Thailand has waived visa requirements for travelers from China for the next five months, as the country tries to revitalize its tourism industry, particularly in terms of the Chinese market, which has been slow to recover after the pandemic.

为重振旅游业，尤其是疫情后恢复缓慢的中国市场，泰国宣布对中国游客实行免签制度，为期约5个月。

On Wednesday, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's new government announced the country will start a five-month visa waiver program for China and Kazakhstan from Sept 25 until Feb 29, 2024. The program aims to attract 30 percent more travelers and generate more revenue for the country.

泰国总理赛塔·他威信13日宣布，泰国将从本月25日起至2024年2月29日对中国和哈萨克斯坦游客实行免签制度，为期约5个月。该计划旨在额外吸引30%的游客，为泰国创造更多收入。

The news has gone down well in China, with travel platforms inundated with searches and inquiries.

这一消息在中国引起了热烈反响，旅游平台上出现了大量的搜索和咨询。

Searches for tour products on Trip.com Group's travel platform surged by 800 percent within 30 minutes of the news being announced. Qunar, another travel portal, said searches for flight tickets to Thailand increased by 70 percent compared with the same time last week, and searches for the country's hotels doubled.

携程集团旅游平台上的旅游产品搜索量在消息公布后的30分钟内激增了800%。另一家旅游门户网站去哪儿网称，与上周同期相比，前往泰国的机票搜索量增加了70%，泰国酒店的搜索量增加了一倍。

"The program hit the spot, as the time period covers two major long holidays for Chinese people—the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday in early October, and the Spring Festival holiday in late January. The visa waiver program will strongly stimulate Chinese people to travel to Thailand in the next five months," said Xu Xiaolei, chief brand officer of CYTS Tours in Beijing.

北京中青旅首席品牌官徐晓磊表示：“该计划一针见血，因为时间段涵盖了中国人的两大长假——10月初为期8天的中秋节和国庆节假期，以及1月底的春节假期。”并补充道：“免签证计划将在未来五个月内吸引大量中国游客赴泰旅游。”

He said a visa policy is usually the most effective and convenient tool to attract travelers and boost consumption. "Some countries and regions have been trapped in 'black swan' accidents in recent months and the coming visa waiver program will help restore Chinese travelers' confidence in Thailand's tourism."

他说，签证政策通常是吸引游客、促进消费的最有效、最便捷的工具。近几个月来，一些国家和地区深陷“黑天鹅”事故，即将到来的免签计划将有助于恢复中国游客对泰国旅游的信心。

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the visa waiver program is estimated to add 700,000 new arrivals.

据泰国旅游局统计，免签计划预计将新增70万新入境游客。

Statistics from TAT show that Thailand was visited by about 3 percent of all outbound tourists from the Chinese mainland, representing the largest share among foreign destinations. In the first quarter of this year, Chinese travelers were in the top five groups of foreign arrivals, along with Malaysian, Russian, South Korean and Indian visitors.

泰国国家旅游局的统计数据显示，在所有出境游客中，约有3%的中国大陆游客到访泰国，在外国旅游目的地中占比最大。今年第一季度，中国游客与马来西亚、俄罗斯、韩国和印度游客一起，位列外国入境游客的前五位。

The Thai government expects the number of Chinese visitors to meet the target of 5 million this year, with spending of 446 billion baht ($13.2 billion). The target is less than half of the Chinese visits in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. About 350,000 to 400,000 Chinese tourists have visited Thailand per month so far this year, with the tally by August reaching 2.1 million, according to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

泰国政府预计今年中国游客人数将达到500万的目标，消费额将达到4460亿泰铢（约合132亿美元）。这一目标还不到新冠疫情前2019年中国游客人数的一半。根据泰国旅游和体育部的数据，今年迄今为止，每月约有35万至40万中国游客访问泰国，截至8月，人数已达210万。

One of the major factors that stopped Chinese tourists from traveling to Thailand is safety concerns, said Varut Kanchanapattana, board member and honorary treasurer of the Association of Thai Travel Agents.

泰国旅行社协会董事会成员兼名誉司库瓦鲁特-坎差那帕塔纳表示，阻止中国游客赴泰旅游的主要因素之一是安全问题。

"The visa-free scheme will definitely be a booster to tourism in Thailand and also the country's economy. But it still won't have maximum benefit if a negative perception about Thailand remains among Chinese," he said.

“免签计划肯定会促进泰国旅游业和国家经济的发展。但是，如果中国人对泰国的负面印象依然存在，那么免签计划就无法发挥最大效益。”他说。

Thailand has become popular among Chinese travelers in the past decades, and was among the first countries that welcomed Chinese tour groups after China optimized its COVID-19 control measures around February.

过去几十年来，泰国一直深受中国游客的欢迎，在今年2月中国优化新冠疫情政策后，泰国是首批欢迎中国旅行团的国家之一。

Trip.com Group said the upcoming National Day holiday from Sept 29 to Oct 6 will see a peak in outbound tourism, and Thailand is among the top three choices for its users.

携程集团表示，即将到来的国庆长假（9月29日至10月6日）将迎来出境旅游高峰，而泰国是其用户的三大选择之一。

Fan Dongxiao, who is in charge of travel firm Tuniu's short-distance overseas trips, said more Chinese people from second or third-tier cities will choose to visit Thailand after the visa-free policy decision.

途牛旅游网负责海外短途游的范东晓说，免签政策决定后，将有更多来自二三线城市的中国人选择去泰国旅游。

"We've already seen a jump in bookings for tour products for the coming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, and the implementation of the visa waiver policy will further increase people's desire to visit Thailand," she said.

她指出：“我们已经看到即将到来的中秋节和国庆节假期的旅游产品预订量猛增，免签政策的实施将进一步提高人们访问泰国的意愿。”

In another development, Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili announced on Monday that the country by the Caucasus and the Black Sea has decided to introduce visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, and more details will be declared later.

另一个进展是，格鲁吉亚总理伊拉克利·加里巴什维利11日宣布，这个位于高加索和黑海边上的国家已决定对中国公民实行入境免签，更多细节将稍后公布。

"China is the second-largest economy in the world. One of our main interests is to strengthen trade and economic relations with China, to attract more investments from China, as well as to attract more tourists," Gharibashvili said at a governmental session in Tbilisi.

加里巴什维利在第比利斯的一次政府会议上表示：“中国是世界第二大经济体，深化对华经贸合作、吸引更多中国投资、接待更多中国游客均是格鲁吉亚政府的重要工作方向。”

Chinese tourists are considered one of the most desirable tourists in the world, said the prime minister.

总理说，中国游客被认为是世界上最受欢迎的游客之一。