Southeast Asia witnesses meager number of international tourists

 

Southeast Asia, which is a tourism hotspot for decades, has been slowly reopening for international tourists, but in spite of reopening the door, most countries are only witnessing a trickle of tourism at best. Businesses in the tourism sector like hotels, tour guides and more saw their livelihoods destroyed by the Covid-19 pandemic and are more than interested to see international travelers come back.

However, the rules and restrictions and extra costs and various complexities are dampening enthusiasm and seeing tourist numbers dropping drastically. With the emergence of the Omicron variant, governments and authorities are uncertain of what new restrictions and closures might happen.

INDONESIA

Bali has long been one of the top tourist destinations in the world, with 50% of its economy coming from the tourism sector. In October, the government attempted to reopen to fully vaccinated travelers from 19 approved safe countries.

With stringent rules, only 2 people traveled to the island by boat at Benoa Port as the international airport is not yet operating. Now after 2 full months reopening, just 45 people have arrived internationally, as per the local tourism office.

THAILAND

Thailand has seen more visitors than most countries, with more than 100,000 international travelers arriving into the country after the reopening on November 1 with multiple entry measures. After strict Sandbox openings first, the revised Test & Go scheme allowing tourists from 63 approved countries to enter with only a 1-day quarantine while waiting for RT-PCR test results has still been described as complex and has discouraged many travelers to visit Thailand.

MALAYSIA

The tropical resort island of Langkawi was the first tourist destination to reopen in Malaysia. Although government officials and local businesses depending on tourism had predicted and hoped for thousands of international travellers, only a few hundred have arrived so far.

VIETNAM

Vietnam had planned various schemes to reopen to international tourism, with the holiday island of PhuQuoc as the first trial before bigger reopening in the New Year. But the trial program brought in a few dozen tourists only, compared to November of 2019, when 1.8 million people visited the country.

Tags: Southeast Asia