Photographer: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP via Getty Images
Photographer: Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP via Getty Images
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A Thai island popular for its beaches is drawing up plans to be re – vaccinated for vaccinated visitors by October to revive its devastated tourism industry.
More than a dozen business groups, including the Phuket Chamber of Commerce and the Phuket Tourist Association, plan to raise funds to vaccinate 70% of the island’s population over 18 without waiting for the government. They bet it will be safe to open the region to foreign tourists as soon as the locals reach herd immunity.
The plan, which requires government approval, also seeks to waive a mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement, a a major obstacle for many potential travelers. According to Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Tourist Association, it will visit thousands of vaccinated Europeans who usually spend their winter months in Phuket.
The plan is the latest attempt to revive Thailand’s tourism – dependent economy. Several have called for an earlier initiative to reopen Phuket to international visitors delays before being realized in October, but the response was lukewarm, as few travelers wanted their subject to quarantine. A second wave of Covid-19 infections also comes as a further setback, resulting in a new round of economic stimulus to support businesses and individuals.
Closed companies
At least 931 registered companies in the Thai tourism sector closed in 2020
Sources: Department of Business Development, Bloomberg
“We can not wait any longer. If we have to wait, we will not survive, ”said Bhummikitti, whose association represents about 300 members, including luxury resort and five-star hotel operators. “If we miss this winter season, we’ll have to wait another year.”
Thailand has sold itself as a Paradise Covid Retreat. Nobody came
Under the plan, called ‘Phuket First October’, the tourism industry will import vaccines through private companies and can obtain shots Sinovac Biotech Ltd., the Chinese manufacturer whose vaccine is expected to be approved by the Thai regulator this month. According to health ministry officials, the government’s vaccination will only reach 2022 by 2022.
An abandoned Bangla road in Patong, Phuket, on December 19, 2020.
Photographer: Taylor Weidman / Bloomberg
The Thai tourism industry is expanding losses and hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk, said William Heinecke, chairman of Minor International Pcl, which manages more than 500 hotels in 55 countries, last week urged Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha to prioritize tourism workers along with frontline and health care employees for vaccination. Heinecke said in a letter to the prime minister that the move could make quarantine-free travel easier for people with ‘vaccination passports’.
Thai beaches will reopen before vaccines become available
Phuket could be a test site for Thailand and once successful, the model could be rolled out to other destinations, Heinecke said, citing the example of the Seychelles who announced quarantine waivers for vaccinated visitors last month.
“Phuket has always made a major contribution to the Thai economy,” Bhummikitti said. “Today we stand to take control of the situation. We do not have much money now, but we are giving one last push in the hope that it will save us. ”