Tag Archives: Russia

Thailand bounces back with 35mn arrivals in 2024

Thailand saw foreign tourist arrivals jump 26% last year after the government eased entry rules and waived visas for Chinese, the largest group of visitors to the country.

An estimated 35.5 million tourists visited Thailand last year, up from 28.2 million in 2023, according to provisional data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. They spent about THB 1.67 trillion, up 34% from a year ago, local media reported.

While the tally missed the ministry’s target of welcoming 36.7 million tourists, it was close to the Bank of Thailand’s prediction of 36 million. The country had set a record for tourist arrivals and revenue generation a year before the pandemic in 2019, with almost 40 million visitors and USD 60 billion in tourism revenue.

The government expects the recovery in tourism to sustain this year following relaxation in visa rules for a number of countries and longer stays per visit. The third season of hit television series “The White Lotus” — set to air in early 2025 and featuring Thai luxury hotels — is expected to draw in more visitors with the legalisation of same-sex marriage being an added attraction for LGBTQ travellers.

The government expects arrivals to jump to a record 40 million this year and along with about 200 million domestic trips to generate 2.8 trillion baht in revenue. The sector accounts for about 12% of the country’s gross domestic product – although some estimates put it as high as 20% – and nearly a fifth of jobs.

Chinese tourist arrivals totalled 6.7 million last year, about 60% of the pre-pandemic record of 11.1 million in 2019. The two countries signed a permanent visa waiver accord last year to encourage more cross-border travels.
Tourist arrivals from Thailand’s other major destinations such as Europe, India and Russia have already exceeded the pre-Covid levels, according to official data. (Source: Bangkok Post)

Russia is keen to promote tourism.

Russia hikes tourist tax while lifting export duties on coal

A new tourist tax has come into effect across Russia on Wednesday, replacing the previous resort fee, local media on Wednesday.

From January 1, 2025, travellers staying in hotels and other accommodations will contribute an additional 1 per cent of their lodging costs, marking the start of a phased plan to bolster regional tourism infrastructure, reports Xinhua, quoting RIA Novosti news agency.

The tax was introduced as part of amendments to the Russian Tax Code in July 2024, which added a new chapter titled “Tourist Tax,” granting regional authorities discretion to implement the tax as a local levy. Many regions, particularly those with established or emerging tourism industries, have already embraced the initiative.

Under the current framework, the tourist tax will begin at a rate of 1 per cent in 2025 and gradually rise to 3 per cent by 2027. To ensure a baseline contribution, a minimum daily charge of 100 rubles (0.9 US dollars) has been established.

While hotels and other lodging providers are technically taxpayers, the cost will be incorporated into the price of accommodations, thus being passed on to tourists.

Additionally, Russia has also officially dropped export duties on anthracite, coking coal, and thermal coal starting January 1, 2025, local media reported on Wednesday.

Introduced on October 1, 2023, flexible export duties were in place until the end of 2024. However, duties on anthracite and thermal coal were temporarily suspended between May 1 and November 30, 2024.

In November 2024, the Russian government decided to lift the export duty on coking coal ahead of schedule and extended the suspension of duties on anthracite and thermal coal to support the coal industry.

Visa-free entry to Indians for Russia likely by spring 2025

Moscow is set to welcome its first visa-free tourist groups from India by spring 2025, according to a report from the Economic Times. This initiative aims to enhance tourism ties between Russia and India.

Evgeny Kozlov, Chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, announced that the forthcoming agreement is expected to significantly boost the number of Indian travelers visiting the Russian capital.

This development follows remarks from Nikita Kondratyev, director of the Russian Economic Development Ministry’s Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation, who noted that both countries are preparing for visa-free group tourist exchanges.

Visa-free travel allows individuals to enter a country without applying for a visa in advance, facilitating a quicker and cost-effective travel experience. Currently, Indian passport holders enjoy visa-free access to 62 countries.

Moscow has seen a steady increase in Indian visitors, with 28,500 arrivals reported in the first half of 2024—an increase of 50% compared to the same period last year. In 2023, India ranked highly among non-CIS countries, contributing over 60,000 visitors. Kozlov emphasized that most Indian travellers come for business-related purposes, placing India among the top markets for Moscow’s tourism.

Additionally, since August 2023, Indian travelers have been able to apply for an e-visa, with around 9,500 electronic visas issued last year, accounting for 6% of the total e-visas granted to foreigners visiting Russia. In January 2024 alone, 1,700 e-visas were issued to Indian tourists.

Russia already has a successful visa-free entry programme for citizens of China and Iran, and officials hope to replicate this success with India.

 

Russia appeals to Indian, Chinese carriers for cabotage plan to operate local flights in its territory

Russia has reportedly made a appeal to allow Indian airlines to operate local flights within its territory. This comes as Russian carriers are unable to meet the demands because of Western sanctions that have cut off their access to US and European aircraft manufacturers and component supplies. However, Indian carriers have told the government that it might not quite be feasible.

According to a report in The Economic Times, Russia approached India, China as well as a few other Asian nations to help them out. Russia approached these countries with a ‘cabotage’ – that gives the right to operate air, water or other transportation within a specific territory – plan.

The matter reportedly came up during the recent BRICS summit, the report added.

However, it is unlikely for Indian airlines to take on the endeavour. As per the report, the carriers have told the government that companies that leased to them as well as insurers would not agree to the idea due to the Western sanctions. Moreover, they too are facing a shortage of airliners to operate locally, the carriers said.

Before the Ukraine conflict, Boeing and Airbus aircraft constituted a significant portion of the fleet for Russian airlines. However, sanctions have led to the suspension of all planned deliveries, redirecting them to airlines in other nations.

In addition, Western companies have stopped supplying components and software to Russia. Aircraft require constant component replacements, regular software updates, and routine checks. Without these, Russian planes are experiencing prolonged grounding, which has significantly impacted expansion efforts, the report added.

Visitors in Japan spent record USD 39bn in September: JNTO

Japan’s tourism sector has been booming in 2024, with visitor spending reaching a record-breaking USD 39 billion in the first nine months of the year, according to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

The weak yen has played a significant role in driving this surge, attracting a larger influx of international tourists. By September, visitor expenditures had already surpassed the previous annual record of 5.3 trillion yen set in 2023.

Tourism spending is now positioned to become Japan’s second-largest export sector, trailing only behind the automotive industry, and surpassing electronic components. On average, tourists spent around 223,000 yen (approximately USD 1,490) during their visits, with Italian visitors leading in spending, followed by tourists from Spain and Russia.

In terms of tourist arrivals, Japan welcomed 2.87 million visitors in September alone, just slightly below the 2.93 million in August. Since February, the country has been setting new monthly visitor records, including an all-time high of 3.29 million in July.

Total arrivals for the year up to September reached 26.88 million, already exceeding the total for 2023 and well on track to surpass the pre-pandemic record of 31.9 million set in 2019.

 

 

Sri Lanka eyeing to best it’s 2018 visitor numbers in 2024

With over 1.2 million visitors recorded in the first seven months, for the anticipated peak season Oct-Nov-Dec windfall, Sri Lanka Tourism is confident of achieving its target of 2.3 million tourists for 2024. Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman, SLTPB (Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau), spoke to Shayan Mallick in an exclusive chat.
After a tumultuous few years that started with Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, followed by Covid-19 pandemic and lastly, the economic crisis of 2022, Sri Lanka is finally set to dominate the travel charts once again.
The island nation looks comfortable to achieve its target of 2.3 million international tourist arrivals, and USD 4.6 billion in tourism revenue during 2024. Sri Lanka had registered its record tourism year in 2018 when international tourist arrival surpassed 2.3 million visitors for the first time.
At over 99.9%, Sri Lanka had nearly achieved its 2023 arrival target of 1.5 million that came slightly undone because of geopolitical exigencies like the Russia-Ukraine war and more recently, the crisis in Israel.
“Sri Lanka missed the target by a mere 10,000 visitors because of the two ongoing wars, or we would have jumped the target of 1.5 million because we were getting lot of tourists from these countries as well”, believes Chalaka Gajabahu, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB). He spoke recently to TravelBiz Monitor, in an exclusive chat, on the sidelines of an award function in New Delhi.
“This year, our target is to reach 2.3 million tourists which are also our best numbers from 2018. We have already received over 1.2 million visitors in the first seven months. But don’t forget that, especially for the European market, the winter season is coming. October, November and December months are going to be very big. We are expecting about 700,000 to 750,000 visitors within these three months alone, that’s excluding the visitors for the August and September months. So I am pretty confident that we will achieve our target of 2.3 million figures,” he added.
Gajabahu also pointed that Sri Lanka’s tourism source markets are diverse and they are keen to maintain it that way. “India has always been our number one market. It was our number one market in 2023, and this year as well. We want it to grow to all categories of visitors. India will be our top market for a long time to come and we want it to be. However, Sri Lanka is a very neutral country. Whether it is India, China, Russia, the UK, France, Germany or the US, we are very welcoming to tourists from across the world.”
Commenting on the turnaround, the SLTPB head pointed, “We went through a very troublesome period before 2022 for five years! When you go through an economic crisis with long queues for essential commodities like food, medicines and petrol, no one wants to visit that country. But, in the past two years, with all that we have done, not only in India but globally, with road shows, promotions and influencer campaigns like ‘Seeing is Believing’, we are now in the top five travel indexes, wherever in the world, from the Fortune to the Forbes, and lot of other such platforms.”
In June 2022, Sri Lanka, said Gajabahu, became the first country to come to India to do the roadshow and also “India was the first country we went to because we knew that India was our next door big brother. It was the market we knew very well that we can handle, and I must admit that all the associations, especially TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India) and Jyoti Mayal came forward to help and committed to bring tourists to Sri Lanka.” TAAI organised its 67th Annual Convention in Sri Lanka last year themed around regional tourism promotion.
Furthermore, under its influencer campaigns like ‘Seeing is Believing’, Sri Lanka hosted no less than 200 global journalists and social media influencers in the last one and half years, earning the island nation receive a lot of positive coverage across the globe that gave a huge fillip to its destination image. Recently, Times of India rated Sri Lanka as the second ‘Most Popular Travel Destination in Asia.’ It was also voted as one of the safest countries for the single women travellers.
“There are many good things happening in Sri Lanka, and we hope to continue the momentum,” said Gajabahu.