BANGKOK: Thailand is hoping to attract about one million Russian tourists this year as Russian airliner Aeroflot will soon resume direct flights to the southern resort island Phuket.
The flights are expected to resume in winter, after they were halted earlier this year due to the ongoing Russia - Ukraine conflict.
Government data shows that as of July 26, the number of Russian visitors to Thailand stood at 76,739, with most entering the country during the first quarter before the conflict started.
It also shows that the number of international tourists to Thailand this year totaled about 3.12 million between Jan 1 and July 26.
Flights from Russia were severely impacted after the European Union (EU) imposed various sanctions against Russia, including flights.
Aeroflot and several other Russian carriers suspended flights to Phuket since March this year.
According to a Bangkok Post report, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn said Aeroflot had confirmed the resumption of the Moscow to Phuket route, which will start from Oct 30 with a daily service.
He said discussions with tour operators who were focusing on this market segment showed that they were confident about the demand to visit Thailand.
However, the lack of connectivity remains an issue.
He pointed out that if Aeroflot can resume direct services as planned and more airlines follow suit in the coming months, Thailand will be able to see an influx of tourists in the final quarter.
Yuthasak said many airlines from Thailand, such as Thai Airways and Thai AirAsia X, were interested in operating this route to replace the Russian carriers, but were unable to do so due to sanctions from the EU.
This affects technical assistance such as maintenance and shipments of spare parts as they were also banned, while insurance firms were not providing coverage in such circumstances.
However, he said the EU had announced on Wednesday, an exemption for the sharing of technical information in the framework of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
This includes any technical support related to repairs, development, manufacture, assembly, testing, maintenance, or any other technical services.
Yuthasak said it is yet to be clarified how these would make any changes to the current aviation situation regarding Russia.
Meanwhile, Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta) president Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn said only about 10 per cent of 1,600 Atta members have been able to resume their businesses after the pandemic.
According to the Post, he said most of them have shifted their focus from the Chinese and Russian markets to India and Malaysia, which were the top markets with 381,542 and 322,079 arrivals, respectively, as of July 26.
Sisdivachr said most tour operators were still closed, especially those that had concentrated on the Chinese market.
"However, as the outlook for the upcoming high season is promising, we have to prepare to restart businesses in popular destinations like Phuket," he added.
Sisdivachr said Atta will bring 170 tour operators to Phuket for them to have a better working arrangement with up to 80 local hotels.
This is also to avoid a shortage of hotel rooms as most hotels in Phuket have been shuttered for over two years.