Thailand-
After three years of travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, China has dropped a restriction on group tours to Thailand and 19 other countries as of Friday, January 20th, 2023 in a sudden announcement.
China had previously dropped overall individual international travel restrictions earlier this month.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism in China made the announcement, which also included countries like Russia and New Zealand.
This will officially allow tour agencies and online travel companies to begin booking large group tours that are often seen traveling by buses and led by flag bearers. China is historically the number one country in terms of raw numbers of tourists provided to Thailand, at about thirty percent overall.
The news will be warmly welcomed by the travel industry in Thailand, although some local residents have already been seen on social media complaining about possible future traffic problems.