Ismael Arana
08/17/2021 7:20 AM
Clarín.com
Travels
Updated 08/17/2021 7:20 AM
With its
postcards of white sands and clear waters
framing dreamy sunsets, motorcycle rides among lush vegetation and a wide cultural, festive and gastronomic offer, the island of
Phuket
exemplifies like few others the promise of an
unforgettable
and affordable
vacation
in a paradisiacal environment. of beaches.
Located in
southern Thailand
, its attractive business card made it one of the most desirable destinations for tourists from around the world years ago.
As a result, in 2019 it received almost
11 million visitors
, who left some 11,000 million euros, almost 90% of the local GDP.
As in other similar destinations in the region - Bali, Boracay or the Maldives, to name just a few celebrities - the arrival of the coronavirus and the closure of borders was a complete setback that left its economy shaking and its population in serious trouble.
Phuket's beaches received 15,000 visitors in July.
Photo REUTERS / Jorge Silva
Foreign tourists
For this reason, the authorities proposed its prompt
opening to foreign visitors
.
To do this, they first prioritized the vaccination campaign in this region, where more than 70% of the population is inoculated compared to the meager 6% at the national level.
And since July 1, they allow the access of vaccinated tourists without the need for them to quarantine.
If they test negative on arrival, they are allowed to move around the entire island without any limitation.
After several days - between 7 and 14, depending on the destination - they can even travel to other provinces.
"My friend got tested at the airport, waited for the results at his hotel, and within six hours we were able to go out to dinner together," Phil Anthony, head of a travel consultancy in Phuket, told CNN.
"The feeling of being able to sit with a colleague you haven't seen in a long time is phenomenal."
The Big Buddha and Kata Beach in Phuket.
Photo Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
Like him, some
15,000 people
visited the island in July to take a dip and have cocktails.
There are about 500 a day, a tiny figure compared to the more than
40,000 daily before
the pandemic, but they generate hope.
“We are at 1% normality.
It is not good, but that 1% also encourages us for the future, "said the president of the Phuket Tourism Association, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam.
For the authorities, the Phuket experiment serves to verify whether a
large-scale opening
in the rest of the country
is feasible
.
Since July 15, small islands such as Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao also receive vaccinated tourists, and other territories are expected to join.
The pandemic in Thailand
But given the current situation, these plans appear to be optimistic.
In recent months, Thailand has suffered from the virulent scourge of the delta variant, which adds thousands of new positives every day while vaccination progresses slowly.
Karon Beach in Phuket.
Photo Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
In an attempt to keep the tourist bubble clean, the authorities banned domestic tourists from entering Phuket between August 3 and 18, although that has not prevented specific cases from being recorded.
These kinds of trials are valuable for a region that could take a long time, if at all, to regain its old normality.
"Covid is not going anywhere, and these
pilot projects
could provide us with a viable way to travel in the future," said Andrea Oschetti, founder of the agency Blueflower.
If one of them collapses, he added, it is not a sign of failure, but rather that it is necessary to "pause, recalibrate and present a better project based on what has been learned."
The vanguard
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