Italian tenor Bocelli signed for Phuket party

Italian tenor Bocelli signed for Phuket party

Bocelli: Ready to sing in Phuket (Reuters photo)
Bocelli: Ready to sing in Phuket (Reuters photo)

Phuket Countdown 2022 has confirmed Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform at Saphan Hin public park, with the event organiser requiring the audience to show a negative Covid-19 test result and proof of complete vaccination before attending.

With the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration this week allowing New Year countdown events to take place, the New Year's Eve celebration in Phuket will have Mr Bocelli as the highlight of the night, said Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.

"Bocelli's show in Phuket is confirmed. The event will also feature famous local artists from the 1990s. However, as preventive measures remain necessary, attendees will be limited to those fully vaccinated who have a negative result from an antigen test kit no more than 72 hours before joining the event," said Mr Phiphat.

The event in Phuket is co-hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the private sector. The TAT has allocated 40 million baht for the event.

In addition to Phuket, the TAT is hosting countdown events in Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima and Rayong, with a total budget of around 150 million baht.

He said the TAT did not seek an additional budget from the government as there were leftover funds from fiscal 2021.

The country faced a second wave of Covid-19 starting in November last year and had to cancel most of the 2021 New Year events.

Mr Phiphat said the ministry is preparing this week to propose to the cabinet the new phase of the "We Travel Together" hotel subsidy scheme, with at least 2 million room nights. Also planned is an extension of the "Tour Teaw Thai" tour subsidy programme until the end of April, he said.

With the tour subsidy receiving lukewarm feedback from local tourists, the ministry will discuss with the National Economic and Social Development Council the possibility of returning the leftover budget from this project to the government and seeking additional support for the more popular "We Travel Together" scheme instead, said Mr Phiphat.

If such budget allocation is possible, the scheme might have 3 million room nights available for local tourists, he said.

The third phase of the "We Travel Together" scheme, which wrapped up last week, recorded 636,918 local tourists using privileges at 4,321 hotels nationwide, generating 7 billion baht.

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