Tourism experts believe that the coming months will be a great opportunity for Thailand to boost its economy as large numbers of Indians tourists travel to the South Eastern country during Diwali. Like other countries, Thailand’s tourism industry has also taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The Thai tourism industry expects Indians to resume travel in large numbers next month during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights,” Somsong Sachaphimukh, vice president of the Thai Tourism Council said, as per Bloomberg reports.

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“That should help spark a tourism revival as it coincides with the planned waiver of quarantine for vaccinated visitors from November 1,” she added.

Indians made the third-largest group of visitors to Thailand before the pandemic, China being the first. However, travellers from Beijing are not expected at the time. 

“Indians may head again to Thai beaches for holidays, conferences and destination weddings,” Somsong said.

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“If Thailand plans to reopen the country and many of our tourism hubs in November, this year’s Diwali may be a great opportunity. Indian travelers have a lot of spending power and a lot of potential,” Bloomberg quoted Somsong from an online briefing on Tuesday.

She further added that Indian tourists spend  between 27,000 baht ($800) and 76,000 baht each during trips to Thailand. “Each destination wedding could generate between 10 million to 120 million baht in revenue for the hotel and services industry,” Somsong said.

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As per official data, about two million Indian tourists generated 80 billion baht in tourism-related revenue in Thailand in 2019. 

“Even though it will be difficult to match the number of visitors and revenue generated by Chinese travelers, Indian tourists can help support Thailand’s tourism industry during this time,” Somsong said.