Thai travel agencies are not worried about the possibility that some Chinese tourists may be infected with COVID-19, because most of their staff are fully vaccinated, but they are concerned that there may not be enough staff or vehicles to cope with a large number of arrivals.
Adith Chairattananon, secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said that the Chinese government’s decision to ease travel restrictions on Chinese citizens, effective this Sunday, was totally unexpected and it has caught many Thai travel agents off-guard.
He said that the travel agents welcome the return of Chinese tourists, after three years of absence due to China’s lockdown and zero infection policies, adding that they are ready to cope with the arrivals to a certain extent.
He disclosed that, during the three-year COVID-19 pandemic, many people who worked in the industry, such as tour guides, were laid off because their companies went bankrupt. This means that there might be insufficient manpower to support the mass arrival of Chinese tourists.
About 5 million Chinese tourists are expected to visit Thailand this year.
Adith said he found out, from tour bus operators, that only 30%-40% of the original bus fleet, or about 10,000 buses, are in working condition, with the remainder needing repairs, adding that there is also a shortage of tour bus drivers.
He said that small bus operators may have a problem accessing funding to repair their vehicles, many of which have either been left idle for a long time or have been confiscated due to default in instalment payments to lending banks.
The ATTA secretary-general admitted that his only concern about Chinese tourists is the biased attitude toward them by some Thai people who are not in the tourism business.
For Thai travel agents in general, he said that they are not concerned about the likelihood that some Chinese tourists may spread COVID-19 in Thailand, saying that most Thais are fully vaccinated and Chinese people are also concerned about their health and claiming that “most” may have been infected before.
