Phuket races Covid-19 vaccine to revive tourism

Conducting Covid-19 vaccination for people 2 months earlier than other localities, Phuket Island (Thailand) hopes to soon bring the tourism industry back to normal.
Phuket Island aims to give Covid-19 vaccine to at least 460,000 local residents by July 1 – the time when foreign tourists who have been vaccinated are no longer in quarantine upon arrival.

The most famous resort island in the Golden Temple has its own international airport. So tourists can freely roam the island without risking spreading the virus to other parts of Thailand, according to Reuters . “If we can build immunity to 70-80% of the island’s population, we can accept vaccinated foreign tourists without quarantine,” said Piyapong Choowong, deputy governor. Phuket, says. In addition to health workers, government cabinet members and the elderly, Thailand also prioritizes Phuket’s people to get vaccinated over other localities, emphasizing the central role tourism plays in the country’s economy. Phuket aims to complete the Covid-19 vaccination for the majority of its population by July 1. Before the pandemic, foreign visitors contributed 11-12% of Thailand’s GDP. However, the country’s tourism industry has lost 1.45 million jobs since the outbreak. In 2020, only 6.7 million foreign tourists come to Thailand, spending about 11 billion USD, down from 40 million visitors and 61 billion USD in 2019. In the third quarter of this year, the government of the Golden Temple expects at least 100,000 tourists to return to Phuket. As the global vaccination program progresses, the number is expected to be 6.5 million visitors in the fourth quarter and spend $ 11 billion. “It is a challenge but if it succeeds, it will contribute to the country’s GDP to some extent. We do not expect visitors to come massively like a dam break but hope there will be many generous visitors,” said Yuthasak Supasorn , Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said. He said tourists from Europe, the United Arab Emirates and the US will return to Thailand first. Thailand’s most famous resort island hopes to soon return the tourism industry to normal thanks to the early vaccination program. During the outbreak, strict 14-day quarantine requirements for foreign tourists helped Thailand limit the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections to about 29,100 cases and 95 deaths. However, it is this plan that also makes many tourists afraid to come here to travel. Long-term tourist attraction programs that test negative for SARS-CoV-2 have largely failed, even with innovative measures such as “golf isolation”. Songklod Wongchai, an analyst at Finansia Syrus, believes Thailand can quickly revive its tourism industry. This expert gave an example of the Maldives, the island nation whose hotel booking rate rebounded to 70-80% despite cases of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. “Increased demand could come back faster than expected. I think the ‘land of smiles’ will soon start to smile again, ”Wongchai said.