BANGKOK (NNT) – Entrepreneurs on Phuket island are bracing enthusiastically for the long-awaited return of Chinese tourists, hoping that China’s reopening and dismantling of its strict pandemic curbs can boost their flagging businesses.

In the year before the pandemic, nearly a third of Thailand’s visitors were Chinese tourists, who once accounted for annual global spending of quarter of a trillion dollars on their travels.

Watersports businesses, which offer paragliding, water skiing and other activities, suffered heavy losses during the pandemic, when strict entry conditions and long mandatory quarantine periods kept visitors at bay.

Full story: National News Bureau of Thailand

Reporter: Paul Rujopakarn,
Rewriter: Paphamon Arayasukawat
National News Bureau of Thailand