Charter flights fill the hot tourist spots in Thailand – Phuket and Pattaya – with Russian tourists. The domestic airline Ikar, Aeroflot is already taking Russians on holiday there, and Azur will fly from the regions of Russia from November 26.
“Azur airline will start operating charter flights from November 26 on B757 aircraft that can accommodate 202 passenger, and significantly increase the number of tourists in Pattaya,” said Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Siripakorn Chosamouth. In addition, the domestic carrier Icarus is already delivering Russians to Thailand.
According to the official, at this rate, the number of Russian travelers in Thailand will reach 1 million by the end of the year. This will be made possible by the fact that Russian airlines have resumed long-awaited charter flights.
Thanet Chairman said Pattaya tourism will greatly benefit from Russian charter flights to Utapao International Airport. Hotel occupancy in the resort town with Russian presence is expected to jump to 60% from the current average of 40-50%.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Russian vacationers made up the tourist core in Phuket in November. From 1 to 10 November, 18,370 Russian tourists visited the main Thai island. Last month, the first direct flights from Moscow to Phuket International Airport resumed.
Less than two weeks after the triumphant return of Russian airlines to Thailand's main island of Phuket, Aeroflot announced an increase in direct flights there. On November 12, the carrier announced that it would add 14 new flights a week from Russia to tropical Phuket.
In addition, earlier the authorities of the kingdom announced their expectations of a surge in Russian tourism on Koh Samui, especially in December. Russian tourists brought a lot of income to Koh Samui, but a series of world events, first the coronavirus pandemic, and now the conflict in Ukraine, has driven the tourism of the island to a standstill. The return of the Russians is expected to give a big boost to tourism in Koh Samui and nearby islands, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao. Residents of Russia and other European countries experiencing frosty winters are planning to escape to warm tropical weather in Thailand.
As of October 26, 7 million 349 thousand 843 foreign tourists arrived in Thailand, exceeding the mark of 7 million. This allowed the country to reach the target range set by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) of 7 to 10 million tourists in 2022.
Recall that in early October, the Thai authorities lifted all covid restrictions for foreign tourists. This means that arrivals to the tropical country no longer need to present vaccination certificates and PCR tests for coronavirus. In addition, you can now stay in the kingdom without a visa for up to 45 days.
Note that the editors of TURPROM recommend choosing a tour to Thailand from any major Russian tour operator at guaranteed best prices in one of the well-known online package tour aggregators : ✈ here is a direct link to Level.Travel and here is ✈ a direct link to Travelata. These online agencies aggregate absolutely all tours of all Russian tour operators, which allows tourists to conveniently compare them and choose the best tour packages. The selected tour can be booked immediately, receive instant confirmation and pay online through a secure banking gateway and receive documents. Or you can simply view and compare the current prices for tours from all tour operators at once.
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