China and Thailand will permanently exempt each other's citizens from March.
This afternoon, the Red Star News reporter learned from the Tongcheng travel platform that within 30 minutes after the release of the news of permanent visa exemption between China and Thailand, the search popularity of Thailand on the platform increased by 158% compared with the same period the day before. Residents in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other places are most concerned about Thailand's tourism-related news.
In addition, Fliggy's data shows that within 1 hour after the announcement of mutual visa exemption, the search volume for air tickets in Thailand instantly increased by more than 2 times, with Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Krabi and other destinations being the most popular destinations.
Airlines: Visa exemption between China and Thailand is conducive to the recovery of Chengdu's air tourism market
Xiang Min, head of Fliggy's air ticket business, said that the permanent visa exemption between China and Thailand will greatly stimulate the cross-border travel consumption demand of passengers from the two countries. In recent months, the average price of flights to Thailand has decreased compared with the first half of last year, and the cost performance of travel to Thailand is in a high position.
According to the analysis of the relevant person in charge of the Tongcheng Research Institute, the outbound tourism market is currently recovering rapidly, and Thailand is one of the most concerned outbound travel destinations for Chinese tourists.
Tongcheng Travel data shows that during the just-concluded New Year's Day holiday, Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai in Thailand entered the top 10 popular outbound travel destinations during the New Year's Day holiday, of which Bangkok ranked first. Bangkok-Pattaya is also the most booked outbound travel product. There will be an eight-day holiday during the Spring Festival this year, and Thailand is expected to remain a popular outbound travel destination.
Song Mingchuan, a citizen of Chengdu, told reporters that Chiang Mai and Phuket in Thailand have always been one of the travel destinations he has traveled abroad on vacation for many years. "Since 2017, I have been taking my wife on trips to Thailand every year. In 2023, after the launch of the new visa exemption policy between China and Thailand, we went to Chiang Mai again. The visa-free is really convenient, and the time to pass through the customs is saved a lot. Song Mingchuan said that in the future, China and Thailand will be permanently exempted from visas, which is good news for people like him who have a "soft spot" for tourism in Thailand.
It is reported that at present, Sichuan Airlines, Spring Airlines and other airlines have opened flights between Chengdu and many cities in Thailand. "At present, Sichuan Airlines has three routes between Chengdu and Thailand. The relevant person in charge of Sichuan Airlines told reporters that the three routes are Chengdu Tianfu Airport one flight a day to Bangkok, Chengdu Tianfu Airport two flights a day to Phuket, and every Friday from Chengdu Tianfu Airport to Chiang Mai.
Zhang Wuan, a spokesman for Spring Airlines, said, "The permanent visa exemption between China and Thailand will further promote the recovery of the air travel market, and is also expected to increase the number of inbound passengers. In the future, we will continue to encrypt flights according to market demand and provide more diversified tourism products and services to attract passengers with different needs. He said that at present, there are two routes from Chengdu to Thailand, both of which arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand.
Tourists visit Bangkok, Thailand, according to Xinhua News Agency
Travel agencies: It will attract more Chinese and Thai tourists for sightseeing
Liu Quanying, general manager of Chengdu Spring and Autumn, said that during the New Year's Day holiday in 2024, Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and other places are all resorts and leisure places that Chengdu citizens choose to go to.
In addition, Thailand is also one of the most popular destinations for outbound travel during the Spring Festival. Up to now, during the Spring Festival, free travel in Bangkok, Pattaya, Koh Samet, Jinsha Island and other places is more popular with citizens and tourists. In the upcoming winter vacation, Chengdu's tourism products to Bangkok and Pattaya, Thailand are deeply loved by parent-child families. "With the continuous change of tourists' travel consumption orientation, when choosing Southeast Asian tourism products, they tend to prefer to choose pure play routes. Taking the Thai Mamba classic route, which is currently selling hot in Spring and Autumn as an example, in the Chengdu group tour, the proportion of pure play groups has reached more than 70%, which is in obvious contrast with the public impression in previous years that most of the Thai tours were shopping groups. ”
Liu Quanying also said that the mutual visa exemption between China and Thailand will also attract more Thai tourists to enter China, especially in Sichuan and the surrounding areas radiated by Chengdu, the advantages of the aviation hub are superimposed on rich tourism resources, pleasant climate in all seasons, and changeable terrain and landforms, etc., which have obvious experience differences with Thailand's tropical island areas, and are more attractive to Thai tourists.
For travel agencies, the news of permanent visa exemption between China and Thailand will undoubtedly have a positive effect. "After the release of the corresponding visa-free policy, Spring Airlines' Sino-Thai flight volume in December 2023 increased by 40% compared with November 2023, and new routes from Xiamen and Jieyang to Bangkok, and routes from Shanghai to Phuket and Bangkok were encrypted. During the Spring Festival, it is also planned to further encrypt the corresponding routes. Shao Yuhua, general manager of the Asia-Pacific Department of Spring and Autumn Tourism, said that in addition, the announcement of relevant news will further boost the willingness of Chengdu citizens and tourists to travel to Thailand. April will also usher in the Thai Songkran Festival, which is very lively. In the future, we will continue to update the connection products in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and other places to provide more choices for citizens and tourists.
Red Star News reporter Hu Qian Part of the picture is based on Spring and Autumn Tourism
Edited by Yuyi Lee
(Download Red Star News, there are prizes for reporting!)