Thailand was planning on boosting their tourism, after partially lifting a three-month ban on foreign visitors in July by introducing travel bubbles. Thailand planned to create travel bubbles later in the year with countries like Australia, New Zealand, and Hong Kong that had managed to contain the virus. The travel bubble was previously set to begin in September.

Yuthasak Supasorn: Fresh outbreaks are creating uncertainty

However, the travel bubbles plan is delayed due to the resurgence of Coronavirus cases in countries that had managed to contain the initial outbreak, a senior official told Reuters. Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said, “The travel bubble that was going to begin in the fourth quarter could be delayed. We adjusted our forecast for foreign arrivals this year to 8.2 million from 10-12 million.” 

Thailand welcomed 6.7 million foreign arrivals in the first five months. The country is allowing business travelers and tourists to seek medical treatment to enter for the rest of the year. The government will provide a $722 million domestic tourism stimulus this month to boost revenue. 

39.8 million foreign tourists visited the country last year and spent 1.93 trillion Baht, accounting for 11% of its GDP. Thailand on Wednesday marked 44 days without local transmission. It has reported a total of 3,197 virus infections, with Thai nationals returning from overseas accounting for new cases.

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