With visa-free norm ending soon, Indian tourists surge to Thailand

With Thailand extending visa-free travel to Indians till November 11 (which began from November 10, 2023), tourists from the country, supported by more airline capacity and lower average fares, are making a beeline to the neighbouring country.

As a result, top hotels in Bangkok have not only witnessed a surge in Indian tourists but are also seeing them stay for a longer period of time.

According to data from Cirium, the number of passengers visiting Thailand from India has gone up by over 15 per cent to 775,625 in the first five months of this calendar year from 672,448 during the same period last year when there was no free visa.

With more seats being added, the average base fare has also come down from $153 last year to $144 now.

Leveraging the opportunity, airlines are increasing capacity between November 2023 (when free visa was announced for Indians) and August 2024.

During this period, the number of flights to Thailand has gone up 17.5 per cent to 11,600 compared to the previous year. The total seat capacity is up 12.5 per cent during the same period with over 2.3 million seats offered between November 2023 and August 2024.

Hotels in Thailand are clearly seeing a huge growth in business from India. And, it is not merely at the mid market but also at the top end.

Rajan Khurana, general manager of five-star luxury Lebua Hotels and Resorts , which boasts of two Michelin restaurants, said, “We have observed a 40 per cent year-to-date increase in bookings from the Indian market, ranking among our top three source markets. This growth is not only in bookings but we have also seen an increase of 18 per cent in the length of stay by Indians. Even forward bookings are up over 40 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) from India.”

Khurana said that the post-Covid slowdown in outbound tourism from China has prompted countries like Thailand to seek alternative markets like India.

He added, “The new visa-free regime is different from what Thailand offered earlier during pre-Covid. This is more convenient as it allows travellers to stay for up to 60 days instead of only 15 earlier.”

Airlines, led by Air India, have seen a surge in seats on the route by 108 per cent in November 2023-August 2024 over November 2022-August 2023. 

During the same period, it increased the number of flights by 164 per cent from 484 to 1,280.

Even others have seen a surge. Thai Lion Air’s seats in the same period are up 86 per cent, Indigo by 36 per cent and Thai Air Asia by 32 per cent.