The absence of Chinese tourists, competition from Europe... makes Southeast Asia still face many challenges in the process of tourism recovery.
Here are the main challenges for the recovery of Southeast Asia's tourism industry, as assessed by experts on Asia media centers.
Foreign tourists come to Cambodia after the country opens to tourism. Photo: ADB
The question asked by experts is that after welcoming international guests, will the governments of other countries open their doors more freely, or will they close borders again?
This is something no one can be sure, because the epidemic situation is still complicated. As of the end of February 27, 10 ASEAN countries recorded two million Covid-19 infections for the first time (people who are sick), especially high in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Karen Yue, a writer specializing in tourism, said: "I think we need to be vigilant when planning travel. Asian governments will maintain flexibility in restricting travel, and will change if new risks arise.
Despite rumors about "revenge tourism" due to tourists being kept at home for too long, experts believe that the number of people traveling will be high but not the previous overload. It's just "just enough".
The reason is that people are affected a lot by the epidemic, leading to a decline in income. And the excitement when traveling abroad as before may have changed. People also have a fear of epidemics and health risks when going out.
Barriers to entry are also an issue. Most countries have removed quarantine regulations, but there are still many procedures and documents that need to be provided by guests. "A friend who works in the Singapore hotel industry told me that currently the procedure to travel is still too much of a hassle. Many people say that going out is stressful, it's better to stay at home," said Gary Bowerman, tree. writing about tourism, living in Malaysia, said.
The absence of China
Tourist countries are facing a reality, and also a difficulty: Chinese tourists have not returned. This is a market that is considered a "gold mine" for many countries, because this number of tourists travels a lot and spends heavily. In 2019, 10 ASEAN countries welcomed 32.3 million Chinese tourists, accounting for more than 22% of the total number of visitors in the region. In particular, Thailand was heavily affected because China contributed nearly 11 million visitors in 2019.
Currently, Chinese people are still unable to travel abroad, which means the world in general and Southeast Asia in particular is losing the number one tourism market. Countries are looking for alternative tourism sources, but this is still a long story and there is no certainty.
When people return to travel, they'll still stick to their old habits: looking for cheap flights. But airlines have been unprofitable for the past two years. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), fuel prices in Asia Pacific rose 8.1 percent last month and 62.5 percent year-on-year. In addition, the recent sharp increase in fuel costs due to the war has made fare pricing more difficult.
Compared to Asia, European countries are loosening more policies. This could make summer excursions to Europe more appealing.
In 2019, South Korea was the third largest source of visitors to Southeast Asia, but in the summer of 2022, experts fear things will repeat like last year. "In the summer of 2021, Koreans made long-distance trips to France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. They chose Europe because there are no restrictions on entry and travel." Dr Jaeyeon Choe, a tourism research specialist at Swansea University in Wales, said.
Singaporeans can follow in the footsteps of Koreans, as the country's government has signed many agreements on tourism corridors with many European countries. Bookings to the continent by Singaporeans are expected to increase sharply during the summer.
