Thailand’s plan to begin opening up the country to tourism is a promising sign for Phuket’s real estate market. Showing signs of re-opening, the market has already started reacting, with more inbound requests from some of the region’s investment markets.

The government’s new scheme comes at a welcome time, where many of the markets have seen slow trading with international visitors being kept at home. This not only is a positive sign for the country, but more specifically for Phuket’s investment landscape.

Phuket is one of the country’s first destinations to be opened up to foreign tourists, allowing them to apply for a special visa and the Tourism Ministry reported that the first group of Chinese tourists were set to arrive into Phuket immediately following the Vegetarian Festival.

Sunee Thungkam, Real Estate Expert at Siam Land Trading, comments that “Phuket’s property market will see a resurgence following this news. It is something that we have been hoping for in the region and it not only allows serious investors to begin visiting and scouting potential investments; but it also gives confidence in the country’s future with tourism returning.”

Thailand has been hard hit by a reduction in tourism, something that was predicted with the country being strongly supported by the industry, but this only leaves opportunity for those looking to expand their investment portfolios. “There have been lots of new opportunities open in the region, with many land owners looking to sell part of their property and many more opening conversation with our team about Thailand’s investment future with countries such as China, Singapore and European Regions. It is one we have reassured that will return with force once global lockdowns ease and there is a common vaccine available for COVID-19” adds Sunee.

Thailand’s success in containing any outbreaks and its relatively low numbers of infection only adds to the positive image of the country for potential investors.

Being a much-loved holiday destination for travellers from across the globe, and with Skyscanner reporting the figures from their latest global travel survey that travellers are looking forward to travelling again – specifically to their “bucket list” countries, Thailand being one of them, there is promise for a boom in tourism post lockdown. A 3^rd of UK tourists stated that they are looking to travel more than ever post-lockdown. A sentiment that is shared by many.

Skyscanner also revealed in their survey that among the top five foreign destinations users had been searching for for travel between December 2020 and February 2021 during the previous lockdown, Bangkok was top of the list.

It is with this data, and the new schemes launched by the Thai government that we have confidence in the future of Thailand’s real estate and property development market.