Tourism Operators Ask To Amend COE Process

Tourism operators in Phuket are asking to make changes to Certificate of Entry or COE procedures to attract more tourists. Tourists want to see changes to other entry requirements as well.

“Lowering the requirements needed to get a COE is critical to get more foreign tourist arrivals together with easing restrictions in other areas.”

According to reports, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam is not requesting to remove the COE requirement, describing it as a valuable screening tool for tourist arrivals. On the other hand, he believes that decision-makers must understand how tourists plan their vacations and streamline entrance processes to attract more tourists. He mentioned that the latest requirement for visitors is to have at least COVID-19 insurance with $100,000 USD coverage is irrelevant, given that the majority of companies would not pay patients with no symptoms and infected sandbox tourists were asymptomatic.

Bhummikitti also seeks to cancel the requirement of relocating visitors to ASQ’s or alternative state quarantine hotels if they happen to be on the same flight as an infected individual. He claims that none of the visitors who have been under this practice since the sandbox’s debut have tested COVID-19 positive. He also wants to see authorities implement an automated method for verifying vaccination documents, noting that the present manual verification process would become unmanageable as tourist numbers grow.

Tourism operators are optimistic that the shortened quarantine period that begins on Friday, 1 October would help boost demand. Visitors traveling under the 7+7 extension plan are no longer obliged to stay more than four days in Phuket before continuing to Phang Nga, Krabi, or Koh Samui.

According to Bhummikitti, reservations for stays beyond the 2nd week of October reached 12,000 nights on September 21, amid anticipation that quarantine might be eased. Phuket has received 37,576 foreign tourists since the sandbox’s opening, falling short of the original goal of 100,000 for the first three months.

Source: Bangkok Post

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