Agreement Between Thailand and Greece to Give New Life to Tourism

Agreement Between Thailand and Greece to Give New Life to Tourism

There was a meeting conducted between Olympia Anastasopoulou, the General Secretary of Tourism Policy and Development and Yuthasak Supasorn, The Governor of the Tourism Organization of Thailand to rejuvenate the tourism sector in both countries.

As per SchengenVisaInfo.com reports, Hellenic Republic has been on the top of the list of priority destinations for tourists from Thailand. On the other hand, there’s a long history of tourism between Greece and Thailand for over 40 years.

The tourism cooperation memorandum that was inscribed 16 years ago is also resuscitated by Supasorn. In addition, he also shared about recommencing flights between both countries that were discontinued back in 2012. Then, Thai Airways took the decision to stop the direct flights between Greece’s capital and Bangkok.

Besides the affairs of air connectivity, the officials also discussed visas in the meeting. Thailand residents who want to visit the Hellenic Republic are facing the problem of delays in getting their tourist visas. Thai travel agencies have reported several complaints regarding this.

Furthermore, Thai travel agencies state that this slowdown in granting visas resulted in Thai people either cancelling their visits or moving to different Schengen states.

As per a Travel Daily report, more than 14000 passengers travelled to Greece from Thailand as tourists in 2019. However, for this year, the number has merely touched 3000 till now.

In this respect, Anastasopoulou takes an oath for boosting the count of tourists to 10,000 by the end of the next year. Ministries from both countries will meet and create a plan for normalizing the visa issuance process and devise direct air connections.

Supasorn focused on the business bond between Greece and Thailand which was created 350 years ago. He emphasized that now is the right time to add more strength to those relations.

In 2019, Thailand welcomed about 40 million visitors, of which 7 million belonged to European nations. Presently, the tourism market recovered by a total of 50 per cent after the opening of the country. And the aim is to hit 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels for the next year.

During the COVID-19 circumstances, Greece authorities have maintained control over the tourism situation and welcomed numerous visitors from international sources.

Vassilis Kikilas, the Greece tourism minister talked about the success achieved this year by the nation’s tourist sector and announced a new scheme for the next year. The official added that for the forthcoming steps, the Hellenic Republic is ready as the top destination.