泰国未来两月免除21国游客的抵达签证费用

Some tourist fees waived@Bangkok Post

The government plans to exempt visitors from visa-on-arrival fees during November and December as it strives to salvage falling tourist numbers, especially from China.

政府计划在11月和12月期间免除游客在抵达时的签证费，旨在他们努力挽救游客数量下降，尤其是来自中国的游客数量。

The initiative floated by Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak aims to reassure Chinese tourists, whose numbers have declined since the Phuket boat tragedy in July.

副总理Somkid Jatusripitak提出的这项倡议旨在安抚中国游客，自从7月普吉岛的船只悲剧以来，中国游客的数量一直在下降。

Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said Mr Somkid has authorised the Immigration Office to exempt 21 nations from visa-on-arrival fees in the final two months of the year.

泰国旅游局局长Yuthasak Supasorn表示，Somkid先生已授权移民局在今年最后两个月免除21个国家的抵达签证费。

The exemption is expected to help foreign arrivals edge towards 40 million, up from the target of 38 million. Chinese arrivals could reach 12 million, compared with the earlier target of 10.5 million.

这项豁免预计将帮助外国入境者达到4,000万，高于3800万的目标。中国入境人数可能达到1200万，而之前的目标是1050万。

The government is also mulling a waiver of the 2,000-baht visa fee for Chinese visitors to increase their numbers.

政府还在考虑放弃对中国游客收取2000泰铢的签证费用。

Private tourism operators are worried that Thailand may lose up to 1 million Chinese arrivals over the next six months if the country is unable to restore confidence in safety issues.

私人旅游运营商担心，如果泰国无法恢复对安全问题的信心，泰国可能在未来六个月内失去多达100万中国游客。

The decline of the Chinese market will have an immediate impact on the country's tourism, which contributes 20% to GDP.

中国市场的下滑将对该国的旅游业产生直接影响，该国的旅游业占GDP的20％。

From the over 35 million foreign visitors last year, roughly one-third of arrivals were Chinese. But their visits have notably decreased after the Phuket boat accident.

去年有超过3500万外国游客，大约三分之一的游客是中国游客。但普吉岛船事故后，他们的访问量明显减少。

The decline is set to hit tourism and related business, particularly travel agencies, hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops, experts in the industry said.

该行业的专家表示，这种下滑将打击旅游业和相关业务，特别是旅行社，酒店，餐馆和纪念品商店。

Vichit Prakobkosol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said travel operators and airlines from the mainland are still not putting Thailand in their packages from October until March 2019.

泰国旅行社协会（Atta）总裁Vichit Prakobkosol表示，从10月到2019年3月，中国大陆的旅行运营商和航空公司仍然没有将泰国纳入他们的旅行套餐。

Chinese tourists have reportedly turned away from Thailand and shifted to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore.

据报道，中国游客已放弃泰国，转而前往日本、韩国、越南、马来西亚和新加坡。

Pongpanu Svetarundra, permanent secretary of tourism and sports, said the number of foreign tourists to Thailand stood at 2.65 million in September alone, up 2.3% from the same period last year.

常驻旅游和体育部长Pongpanu Svetarundra表示，仅9月份到泰国的外国游客数量就达265万，比去年同期增长2.3％。

Of the number, 648,000 were Chinese, down 14.9% year-on-year, with tourism income falling 11.5% to 36.87 billion baht.

其中，64.8万人为中国人，同比下降14.9％，旅游收入下降11.5％至36.87亿泰铢。

Most visitors in the month came from East Asia, Europe, South Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, Oceania and Africa, in that order.

本月大多数游客依次来自东亚、欧洲、南亚、美洲、中东、大洋洲和非洲。

During the first nine months of 2018, Thailand received 28.5 million international tourists, representing 8.7% year-on-year growth.

在2018年的前九个月，泰国接待了2850万国际游客，同比增长8.7％。

Tourists have generated income of 1.4 trillion baht, up 10.9% year-on-year.

游客产生的收入为1.4万亿泰铢，同比增长10.9％。