THE Phuket Sandbox scheme has so far generated a revenue of about 1.6 billion baht (RM204 million) since the popular resort island opened its doors to foreign tourists from July 1.
Citing a report from the Tourism and Sports Ministry, Phuket governor Narong Woonciew said 26,400 tourists arrived in the island in the first two months and spent a total of 366,971 room nights.
The Bangkok Post reports that the revenue included 565 million baht (RM72m) from accommodations, 376 million baht (RM47m) from goods and services, 350 million baht (RM44m) from food and drinks, and 229 million baht (RM29m) from medical and health services.
The Phuket immigration office said the number of tourists from July 1 until Sept 3 was 27,609.
Top on the list were tourists from the United States with 3,647 visitors, followed by 3,437 from the United Kingdom, 3,141 from Israel, 2,174 from France and 2,159 from Germany.
The immigration said 10,355 of them have left Thailand while 17,254 were still in the county, visiting other places. Only 4,762 remain in Phuket.
Under the Phuket Sandbox programme, vaccinated foreign tourists are allowed to visit Phuket without quarantine and can visit other parts of the country after 14 days.
They are also allowed to visit some neighbouring tourist spots after seven days in Phuket.
Meanwhile, the Samui Plus programme has brought in almost 40 million baht in revenue since its launch in the middle of July.
Surat Thani governor Witchawut Jinto said the islands of Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, have received 918 visitors including 347 who arrived via the Phuket Sandbox.
According to the Post, Jinto said that since the launch on July 15, the Samui Plus scheme recorded bookings of 6,329 room nights and brought in more than 37.6 million baht in tourism revenue.
Most of the tourists were from European countries and the United States.
He said 92 flights have taken place since the opening, between Suvarnabhumi and Samui airports.
The governor said the local tourism industry is expected to pick up in the last quarter of the year and hotels have reported bookings of 9,195 room nights from 860 visitors until Dec 9.
The governor said the Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus are boosting efforts to revive the battered tourism industry and creating jobs for local people.
The Post also reports that the Association of Domestic Travel (ADT) aims to tally some 75 million domestic trips this year, using the government's stimulus package in the final quarter to spur tourism.
ADT president Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn said the government plans to resume two tourism stimulus packages in mid-September to pave the way for a domestic rebound in October.
An additional one million room nights are expected to be added to the "We Travel Together" scheme, while the government will also subsidise 40 per cent of tour packages costing up to 5,000 baht each, for one million Thai tourists.