Thailand’s tourism officials have launched a new campaign that could allow vaccinated visitors to bypass its mandatory quarantine restrictions.

The country’s Welcome Back To Thailand Again campaign is set to roll out later this year. The goal of the campaign is to bring back travelers lost during the pandemic. It would implement “COVID-19 Passports” to identify lower-risk visitors – which means travelers will not have to quarantine for 16 days.

If the campaign proves successful, it could save up to 400,000 hotel jobs and 400,000 additional jobs in the tourism sector across Thailand, TTG Asia reports.

Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with a record 40 million travelers in 2019.  But the numbers dropped significantly in 2020, with an estimated 6.8 million international travelers due to the ongoing global health crisis.  2021 is looking bleak for the country as an estimated 10 million international travelers are expected to visit.

More than one billion people across the world are expected to be vaccinated by the end of June 2021, which could bring about a return in travel demand. And as countries begin to roll out administering the vaccines,  more are expected to update travel requirements for people who are vaccinated.

Seychelles has already begun allowing fully vaccinated visitors to enter without quarantine, as Travel Noire previously reported.

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