JakartaPost-Apr 14
Most Thai travelers are still not ready to take trips abroad as Covid-19 threats, higher expenditure from health and safety measures, and regular changes to entry rules for each country remain obstacles. Charoen Wangananont, managing director at Kangwal Holiday Co, said despite the long Songkran holiday and more countries reopening with fewer restrictions, the size of the outbound market is still relatively small when compared with the pre-pandemic period. Even as more countries, including Thailand, are set to loosen travel rules further in May, the outbound market is expected to stay at only 10% of pre-pandemic levels, he said.
“Health and safety measures required by each country, such as Covid tests and insurance, could cost each traveller around a 30-40% increase in expenditure compared with before the pandemic,” Mr Charoen said. “Meanwhile, each country may abruptly change its regulations in response to the viral situation, so outbound travellers are preferring to delay trips until there are no such uncertainties.” Tourists remain concerned about the Covid-19 situation in their preferred destination countries, as some are still reporting high numbers of daily cases. He said only a few tour companies have resumed sales of outbound packages as there is insufficient demand in the market. Business resumption requires a lot more investment, which most travel companies cannot afford as the market has been largely paused for more than two years, said Mr Charoen. Read more at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2294826/rules-costs-deter-outbound-travel
