Thailand has raised this year's foreign tourist arrival target to 36.7 million, 1 million higher than the previous forecast as it has witnessed travel fever in the first half, a tourism official said.
For the rest of the year, Thailand aims to receive 21.7 million tourist arrivals to fulfil its target, the Tourism and Sports Minister Sermsak Pongpanich said as quoted by Bloomberg.
It has received 15.5 million foreign arrivals so far this year, up 37% year-on-year thanks to visa waivers and tourism promotion policies.
Since June, Thailand has allowed travelers from 93 countries to enter without a visa for up to 60 days, up from the current 57 nations.
In March, Thailand permanently waived visas for Chinese nationals and extended the exemption for Russians, Indians and Taiwanese.
In 2019, the year before the onset of the Covid pandemic, Thailand, whose economy heavily relies on tourism for economic growth, welcomed a record 39.9 million foreign arrivals, generating 1.91 trillion baht (US$51.9 billion) in revenue.