Getting Priority For The COVID-19 Vaccination Program, Phuket Island Thailand Is Ready To Welcome Foreign Tourists

JAKARTA - The island of Phuket, Thailand, which has become one of the most famous tourist destinations in the world, is preparing to open up, resume tourism activities and accept foreign tourists.

This is in line with the island's planned COVID-19 vaccination, which is two months ahead of other parts of Thailand.

The plan is for the COVID-19 vaccination on Phuket Island to be given to around 460 thousand people, the majority of which are residents. This is related to the desire to reopen the acceptance of foreign tourists who have been vaccinated, no need to quarantine them again.

"If we can build herd immunity for 70-80 percent of the island's population, we can receive vaccinated foreign tourists without the need for quarantine", Phuket Deputy Governor Piyapong Choowong told Reuters.

It is known, the Thai government is targeting 100 thousand tourists to come to Phuket in the third quarter of 2021. Then, along with the progress of vaccination programs around the world, a surge in tourists is expected to occur in the fourth quarter. The national target is that 6.5 million visitors are spending around $ 11 billion by the end of the year.

The existence of an international airport in Phuket, makes tourist access easier, without raising concerns about the risk of transmission of the coronavirus to Thai residents in other regions.

"It's a challenge. But it will contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to some extent", said Tourism Authority Governor of Thailand Yuthasak Supasorn.

"We don't expect tourists to come like a broken dam, but we do hope to have high-spending quality visitors", he continued.

Yuthasak added that foreign tourists from Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States were expected to return first.

Foreign tourist spending contributed 11-12 percent of Thailand's GDP before the pandemic. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is bearing down on this sector, where 1.45 million people have lost their jobs.

Over the past year, only 6.6 million foreign tourists visited Thailand and spent around $ 11 billion. Much less than the 40 million visitors who spent $ 61 billion in 2019.

It is known that a strict 14-day quarantine for foreign tourists is helping Thailand prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection, with only 29,100 cases and 95 deaths. However, this is a major obstacle for the Thai tourism industry.

The golf resort's creative quarantine program, which was meant to attract long-term tourists, failed to meet the expected targets.

Separately, analyst of Finansia Syrus Songklod Wongchai believes Thailand could see a rapid increase in tourism, citing the example of the Maldives which has seen hotel occupancy rates climb back to 70-80 percent despite virus cases.

"The pent-up request may come back sooner than expected. I think the Land of Smiles (Thailand) will start smiling again", he assured.