With the launch of Thailand’s optimistic ‘Phuket Sandbox’, data and figures can’t be missed in understanding its performance. Here’s a list of 18 interesting numbers about the initiative one week later:
0 days of quarantine in Phuket Sandbox
1 July - Launch of Phuket Sandbox
3 Covid-19 tests for the tourist
7 Step Flow at Phuket International Airport
14 days mandatory stay in Phuket before travel to other destinations in Thailand
15 July - Launch of the Samui+ programme building on Phuket’s success
32 inbound flights (mostly from Europe and Middle East)
67% of Phuket locals fully inoculated (as of July 5)
67 countries / territories that may enter Phuket Sandbox
84% of Phuket locals received 1st dose of vaccination (as of July 5)
299 rooms for alternative local state quarantine
1384 tourists on Day 1
2113 tourists in Phuket by Day 7
2,500 - 4,000 baht for an RT-PCR test per person (to be covered at own expense)
11,800 tourists expected in July alone
100,000 travellers expected in the 3rd quarter (July to Sept)
100 000 USD insurance policy covering Covid-19 treatment
$8,900,000,000 (8.9 billion baht) expected to generate in the summer
A positive takeaway from the chart above is the day-on-day growth of the number of leisure travellers travelling to Phuket.
Building on the momentum of the relative success of the Phuket Sandbox, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is expected to replicate this success in other parts of the country namely: Koh Samui, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Krabi in the upcoming weeks. Albeit a slow reopening, a controlled and sustainable programme like the Phuket Sandbox is a great confidence booster to tourism-dependent nations hoping to reopen to leisure travellers as well.