The Council of Ministers of Thailand on Tuesday agreed to exempt tourists from Uzbekistan, as well as from other 20 countries, from paying the visa fee upon arrival, Kun.uz correspondent reports citing the Bangkok Post.
The exemption will be valid from December 1 to January 31, 2019. Tourists from Uzbekistan who arrive in Thailand for up to 15 days will be exempt from paying a fee of 2,000 baht ($ 60).
In addition, Andorra, Bhutan, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritania, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Ukraine were included in the list of countries whose citizens will be relieved of paying the visa fee.
According to the Thai Immigration Bureau, the number of tourists who receive visas upon arrival has been falling since January 2016. It is expected that the initiative will help increase the flow of tourists by 30%.
The measure is also aimed at returning to the country the Chinese tourists, whose number after the shipwreck in Phuket, when 47 people died, was reduced. By some estimates, thanks to the initiative, up to 40 million foreigners may visit the kingdom (instead of the expected 38 million) before the end of the year.
According to the information of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, in September the total number of tourists amounted to 2.6 million people, which is 2.3% more than during the same period last year. Revenues of the national tourism industry, however, decreased by 11.5% and amounted to 36.8 billion baht (1.13 billion dollars).
In the first nine months of 2018, Thailand was visited by 28.5 million foreign tourists (8.7% more compared to the same period last year). They spent 1.4 trillion baht ($ 42.9 billion) on trips, which is 10.9% more than in the first nine months of 2017.
