Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The White Elephant Country, aka Thailand, is currently pushing for a program initiative similar to the EU Schengen Visa or a joint visa for several Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries which accommodates 70 million tourists a year.
This is in line with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin stepping up initiatives to attract Thailand's status as an aviation and logistics hub by increasing the number of long-haul tourists and high-cost tourists.
Srettha said his party had discussed the idea of a Schengen-type visa with colleagues in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam in recent months. This facility is intended to ensure smooth mobility for travelers between the six neighboring countries.
This made most of the leaders of neighboring countries give a positive response to the single visa concept. Tourism-dependent Thailand aims to generate more revenue per tourist and protect its economy from headwinds such as sluggish exports and weak global demand that have a negative impact on its manufacturing industry.
On the other hand, Former President of the Thai Hotel Association, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, revealed that the tourism industry is currently optimistic. He believes that a common Visa can attract long-distance tourists by making decisions easier.
“A common visa can attract long-distance tourists to make easier decisions,” he said as reported by the Economic Times, quoted Thursday (11/4/2024).
Nunbhakdi said the visa validity period needed to be extended to 90 days from the usual 30 days to make it attractive.
It is recorded that six Southeast Asian countries reported a total of 70 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2023. Thailand and Malaysia accounted for more than half of this number, generating around US$ 48 billion in tourism revenue.
As such, the single visa is the most ambitious among Srettha's series of tourism initiatives but is targeted for the long term. The industry has served the country well, accounting for around 20% of total employment and contributing around 12% to the country's US$ 500 billion economy.
Except for the pandemic years, tourism has boomed and provided a cushion against the decline of the manufacturing and export sectors, which are the traditional bastions of the economy.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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