Bangkok (VNA) –The number of Chinese visitors to Thailand might not reach the target of 5million this year, as arrivals in the first four months were lower than expected.

SisdivachrCheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), saidthe tourism industry needs to wait for the second half of the year to gain aclearer outlook after Chinese arrivals were sluggish over the first four months. As of April 18, the number ofChinese visitors tallied around 695,000, only 14% of the target

The start of the year was promising, mainly driven by pent-updemand from the Chinese market during the Lunar New Year festival in January,which this year took place just two weeks after Beijing announced the liftingof travel restrictions on Jan 7.

The number of Chinesearrivals in the first two months tallied 247,497 before gradually picking up to269,745 in March, as more flights were added.

However,  Sisdivachrsaid apart from insufficient seat capacity and rising travel costs, touristswho want to come to Thailand also face obstacles with visa applications.

He said Atta received a number of reports from tourists aboutthe inconvenient visa process, which prompted most of them to opt for visas onarrival instead, while some tourists changed their plans and decided not tovisit the country.

He acknowledged that withvisa obstacles and gradual flight resumption, it might be difficult to achieve5 million Chinese visitors this year unless there is a dramatic surge in thesecond half.

Thailand recorded almost 6.5 million foreign arrivals in thefirst quarter this year, still a wide margin from the 10.7 million posted inthe same period of 2019.

Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority ofThailand, said the agency discussed the visa complaints with the privatesector, but the sides did not reach a resolution.

He said the difficultieswith visa procedures were related to a limit for e-visa applications of 80,000per month./.