The new rules are aimed at clamping down on low-quality, “zero-baht” tour packages that typically include air fare, hotel, meals and tours.
The first regulation limits outbound tour companies to sending no more than 5,000 people a year each to Thailand.
Tour companies will not be allowed to take customers to tourists “sights” (such as shops) that are not on their printed itineraries for tours that are included in packages. Any infringements will result in the company being barred from running package tours to Thailand.
The prices of package tours will be compared with what is offered. If the Chinese authorities feel that a package is too cheap, they will put it under a microscope and may withdraw the tour company’s operating license.
The new rules follow talks between Thai Tourism & Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak and senior Chinese officials, along with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
At the end of May, Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Guan Mu urged Thailand to stop concentrating on numbers of tourists and look at quality.
In a meeting in Phuket with a variety of Thai officials and tourism industry representatives, he said he understood that it would be difficult to reduce the numbers of “zero-dollar tourists”, but that Thailand should try to do so because this was “not good for tourism in the long run”.
His remarks appeared to ring a bell with Mr Somsak, who is the first tourism minister in living memory to have questioned the “never mind the quality, look at the numbers” attitude of Thai governments of all stripes.
In August he opposed a suggestion, coming out of a meeting between Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, that Chinese tourists be allowed visa-exempt entry into Thailand.
He cited overcrowding and inadequacy of tourist facilities as reasons not to go ahead with the scheme, adding that he was worried that Thailand’s carrying capacity – tourist venues, accommodation and transport – would be overwhelmed.
The Tourism Ministry, he said, believes that creating a high-quality travel and tourism market is of the utmost importance.
The new Chinese rules are supported 100 per cent by Chanchai Duangji, Director of the TAT’s Phuket Office, who said on Thursday (September 19) that companies in China appear to be anticipating the rules and are already adjusting their tours, with the result that the numbers of Chinese coming to Phuket are already declining.
Thai inbound tour agencies have been catching a chill, but nevertheless, he said, “I support this measure. We have been trying to solve the problem about the zero-baht tour. Definitely the number will drop but there will come a tipping point after which we will see higher-quality tourists coming from China.
“There may be some suffering for a while but then it will become more disciplined. Our projections see a drop of about 20 per cent in the number of tourists coming to Phuket from China.
“But if we have higher-quality tourists, we don’t need to be worried about quantity.”
He said he believed the island’s natural resources would benefit because they have recently been under siege from large numbers of visitors, with the result that they were deteriorating.
“With smaller numbers of tourists, they have a chance of recovering or being rehabilitated. And with the tourists being of higher quality, the island’s income will not be affected.
“Now that we have this arrangement with China, we will use this model in talks with other countries such as Russia and South Korea [that are sending large numbers of zero-baht tourists to Phuket]”.
For China, of course, there are spinoff benefits – requiring Chinese nationals to get visas to come to Thailand and making package tours more expensive will encourage many to spend their vacation yuan at home in places likes Hainan or Qingdao.