International airline bookings to Southeast Asia reached 38% of pre-pandemic levels by late March, according to travel firm ForwardKeys. They were at less than 10% of 2019 levels at the start of the year.
Singapore and the Philippines lead a sharp uptick in bookings.
“We are the first to cut all the red tape,” said Philippines tourism minister Bernadette Romulo-Puyat says.
These two Southeast Asian countries now require vaccinated travelers to only perform a rapid antigen test before arrival, whereas more complicated requirements in Thailand have knocked the former tourist favorite out of the top league. The ForwardKeys data shows that Singapore and Philippines bookings are at 72% and 65% of 2019 levels, respectively, way ahead of Thailand’s 24%.
“The on-arrivals PCR can cost 2,000-2,500 baht ($60-$75) and can cost a lot especially for groups, (making) people hesitant to travel,” admits Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association.
“If another country does not have entry requirements, people would rather go there.”
Full Recovery Years Away
Domestic and international traffic within the Asia Pacific this year will only reach 68% of 2019 levels and hit pre-pandemic traffic by 2025, a year behind the rest of the world, the International Air Transport Association says.
For example, visitors to Singapore surged nearly four times in February from a year earlier, when the city-state had restricted entry. But that was just 9% of arrivals in February 2020 and included holders of work visas from Malaysia and India.
Thailand will take until 2026 to make a full recovery, the governor of its central bank says. In 2019, international tourism accounted about 12% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Travel and tourism in Southeast Asia – known for its white sand beaches, historical architecture and warm climate – contributed $380.6 billion to the region’s GDP in 2019, or 11.8 percent of the total, according to World Travel & Tourism Council.
Chinese Are Missing
The profile of international travelers to Southeast Asia also has shifted. Once making up Asia’s largest group of travelers, Chinese tourists are stuck at home due to strict lockdowns.
More than a quarter of the 40 million tourists who had visited Thailand in 2019 were Chinese. This year, the country expects between 5 million and 10 million international arrivals from places like Malaysia and other Southeast Asian neighbors.
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