China, Thailand eye waiving visas

By ZHAO SHENGNAN in Bangkok and WANG WEN and GUO YALI in Beijing Neither Thai nor Chinese tour- ist operators were surprised at the two governments' decision to discuss waiving visas for both sides' visitors on Friday.mini storage"Waiving visas is inevitable because the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand is really big," said Vichit Prakobgosol, honorary director for the h ai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association and chairman of CCT Group, a travel service consultancy.Lower costs and more convenience will encourage more Chinese tourists and investors to visit h ailand, said Vichit, whose company estimates it will receive 300,000 Chinese tourists this year.Vichit said he believed about 5 million Chinese will visit h ailand next year if such a policy can take ef ect in 2014.China is now the biggest source of tourists to h ailand, with about 3.22 million Chinese visiting in the i rst eight months of 2013, up 88.42 per- cent over the same period of 2012, according to the Tourism Authority of h ailand.If 2 million Chinese tourists come to Thailand per year on a 15-day visa that costs $25, h ailand could earn more than 1 billion baht ($32million) a year in visa fees alone, according to the Bangkok-based TTR Weekly.Wang Dong, a Chinese business- man in Bangkok, said what's more important than saving money is the time saved, with better scope for business."h e h ai visa is not as dii cult or expensive to get as many other coun- tries, but for a frequent visitor who lives in a small city, I have to hire a travel agency to help me mail my doc- uments to the consulate in Shanghai.It's troublesome," said Wang.Currently, only the h ai embassy in Beijing and consulates in seven other big cities including Shanghai and Guangzhou can process visa applications in China.h e young generation nowadays enjoy spontaneous and indepen- dent trips. A visa exemption will give them another excuse to do this, said Zhang Guangrui, director of the tourism research center with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.Song Meidan, a manager of a Beijing-based travel agency儲存 echoed Zhang's views, but added the pack- age tour business will benefit less from the policy because Thailand already offers visas on arrival and China's newly released tourism law has dampened the booming trend.China's i rst tourism law that took ef ect on Oct 1 bans travel agencies, which heavily rely on package tours, from of ering rock bottom prices but adds hidden costs such as mandatory shopping outings.In response, travel agencies raised tour package prices and lost many potential clients."One reason for h ailand's popu- larity among the Chinese is its low cost. If it was as expensive as a trip to Europe, which do you think people would choose?" Song asked.However, Vichit said most Chinese still prefer group tours when they travel to a country for the i rst time."Only 20 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand over the past two decades, while 400 million Chinese can af ord to travel overseas now. For Chinese in second- and third-tier cities, package tours are still the top choice," he added.Kanjana Boonsopa, a Thai hotel staf member in Bangkok, said she would like to see more Chinese visi- tors. "It's good for business," she said.Chutinunta Agukrikul, marketing director of the Bangkok-based Cen- tral Department Store Ltd, said, "We would certainly welcome even more Chinese shoppers to our store."Pu Yue, production manager of Ctrip's tourism department, predicts more than 20,000 Chinese travelers will visit h ailand using its services this year. h e agency does not feel pressure regarding supply because the tourism industry is optimistic that Thailand's tourism resources, such as l ights and accommodation, will continue to grow.Vichit from h ai CCT Group said h ailand has to better prepare itself to welcome more tourists through such methods as developing high-speed trains and strengthening security and sanitary works. "Waiving visas is not just a technical procedure but shows a high-level of trust and friendliness between two countries, which will make the two peoples feel comfort- able in each other's country," he said.迷你倉