BANGKOK, 23 July 2020: The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) has hinted at the possibility of extending the international commercial flight ban according to the National News  Bureau of Thailand.

It coincides with reliable information from sources close to Thai Airways International suggesting the airline will not start international services until December.

The comments were made by a high ranking THAI executive who told a travel association’s committee members it was “very likely that the airline would not be able to resume services in September.

The airline recently updated advance timetable information in booking systems worldwide that listed a resumption of services to more than  30 destinations.

Now due to concerns over the global Covid-19 situation the CAAT’s director-general said the kingdom should focus more on its domestic airline business as the government had earlier given the green light to local carriers and allowed the majority of businesses to reopen.

On a national level, governmental support for local tourism growth has been strong.  One of the most recent programmes announced is the Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA) project that offers a certification scheme aimed to prepare the Thai tourism industry for post-Covid-19 pandemic recovery.

In June, TAT and Expedia announced a collaboration to promote the country’s health and safety initiatives under TAT’s SHA scheme to global travellers.  Certified hotels and resorts are issued a certificate by TAT and have a validity period of two years. Travellers can check for certified hotels on the SHA website.

According to Expedia.co.th search data for June the top five cities searched by Thai travellers were Pattaya (12.8%), Bangkok (10.1%), Hua Hin (9.6%), Chiang Mai (4.7%) and Phuket (4.6%).

 

Top searched cities for SHA approved properties:

Pattaya
InterContinental Pattaya Resort; Siam@Siam Design Hotel Pattaya; Baraquda Pattaya – Mgallery by Sofitel.

Bangkok
Lebua at State Tower; Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok; Grande Centre Point Hotel Terminal 21.

Hua Hin
Ace of Hua Hin Resort; Hyatt Regency Hua Hin; G Hua Hin Resort & Mall.

Chiang Mai
The Chiang Mai Old Town; X2 Vibe Chiang Mai Decem Hotel; Phra Singh Village.

Phuket
Anantara Layan Phuket Resort; Banyan Tree Phuket; Amari Phuket.

Expedia APAC head of communications, Lavinia Rajaram said: “ TAT’s SHA initiative is one of the many important guidelines travellers can be looking out for when searching for properties, along with Expedia’s enhanced cleaning checklist which is now displayed on each property information page.”

 

TTRWeekly