According to CCTV news, March 1st was the first day that the agreement between China and Thailand on mutual visa exemption for ordinary passport holders came into effect. Data released by the National Immigration Administration showed that 18,258 Chinese citizens went abroad to Thailand; 3,837 Thais entered mainland China. , among which 2,930 people entered the country visa-free with ordinary passports, accounting for 76%.

　　A reporter from Beijing Youth Daily learned from Ctrip that the average price of direct flights to Thailand from major domestic cities in March dropped significantly compared with that during the Spring Festival. A query on the Ctrip platform on March 1 showed that in March, the air tickets from Shanghai, Kunming, Guangzhou and other cities to Bangkok, Thailand, were The price is mostly 500 yuan to 800 yuan.

　　According to statistics from the quasi-civil aviation bulletin board of Feichang, the actual number of round-trip flights between China and Thailand in February was 7,746, which has recovered to 64% of the same period in 2019.

Currently, there are as many as 41 departure airports for domestic flights to Thailand.

Among them, the departure airport with the most flights to Thailand is Shanghai Pudong Airport.

　　A reporter from Beiqing Daily learned from the Tongcheng travel platform that as of February 29, the number of flight ticket bookings from China to Thailand in early March increased by nearly 80% year-on-year.

The implementation of the mutual visa exemption policy between China and Thailand coincides with the start of Thailand's summer tourism season. In the past week, the number of inquiries about Thai travel products on the Tongcheng travel platform has increased by more than 200% month-on-month, and the number of bookings for Thai-related travel products has increased nearly five times year-on-year.

Currently, the main destinations in Thailand are Bangkok, Pattaya, etc., which are the most popular among Chinese people. Compared with the previous group tours, after the China-Thailand mutual visa exemption policy comes into effect, the booking ratio of independent travel and private group products is expected to increase. promote.

　　According to Qunar platform data, searches for Thai air tickets have increased by nearly 70% month-on-month in the past week.

Air ticket prices have returned to off-season prices from the high prices during the Spring Festival, but due to the high popularity of travel, the average price paid is still slightly higher than in early January.

　　Qin Jing, vice president of Ctrip Group, said that China and Thailand are each other's important tourist destinations and tourist sources, and both are major tourist countries.

Mutual visa exemption is of great positive significance to the development of the tourism industry of both sides. It also sends a signal of China's active opening up and will promote significant growth in inbound tourism.

Ctrip is confident about the growth of inbound and outbound tourism in 2024.

　　Xiao Peng, a researcher at the Qunar Big Data Research Institute, said, "Although March has always been the off-season for travel, this year we have seen more passengers embarking on travel, especially outbound travel. On the one hand, it benefits from policy optimization and flight resumption, and on the other hand, we see more passengers embarking on travel, especially outbound travel." On the one hand, airlines have adjusted their price strategies. The growth in passenger volume proves the strong potential travel demand, and price reductions have a significant effect on stimulating demand."

　　Text/reporter Lin Lishuang

　　Coordinator/Yu Meiying