TOURISM AUTHORITY OF THAILAND AIMS TO INSTIL CONFIDENCE IN MENA TRAVELLERS BY PARTICIPATING IN THE 2021 ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET

 The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced its participation during the 2021 Arabian Travel Market, the first in-person travel & tourism event in the world since the onset of the pandemic. During the trade event, TAT will highlight Thailand’s efforts in ensuring the health and safety of travellers from the region, and outline key updates to travel partners as it looks to reignite the country’s tourism sector and reopen its borders.

Prior to the pandemic, Thailand welcomed over 39 million visitors annually, of which over 550,000 were from the MENA region. Since closing its borders at the start of the pandemic, plans are in place to reopen its borders without the need to quarantine in a phased approached. The Kingdom aims to welcome fully vaccinated travellers to Phuket in Q3, and recently announced a vaccination programme to achieve herd immunity for 70% of Phuket’s population.

“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Thailand has taken strides to inspire confidence and ensure readiness to welcome back travellers from the Middle East,” said Pichaya Saisaengchan, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for Dubai and the Middle East. “We look forward to sharing our progress during ATM this year. It is the ideal trade event to interact with our stakeholders, forge new relationships and promote the destination to our partners and potential travellers in the region.”

As part of its efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus, the Tourism Authority of Thailand collaborated with the public and private sector partners to introduce the ‘Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration: SHA’ certification, aimed at elevating the country’s tourism industry standards and developing confidence among tourists, including visitors from the Middle East. Since then, over 8,000 businesses across the Kingdom passed the assessment and received the certification. The programme has now been certified to be on par with the World Travel and Tourism Council WTTC Safe Travels global health and hygiene standardised protocols.

Now in its 28th year, the 2021 Arabian Travel Market will take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) over four days from Sunday 16 to Wednesday 19 May.