With the recent relaxation of entry rules, much of Southeast Asia is responding to the easing Covid-19 pandemic and reopening travel, with airline seats piling up as holiday-starved masses arrange their first overseas holiday in two years.
The upward momentum picked up pace in April and is now in full swing as popular tourist destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia lifted quarantine rules for vaccinated travelers.
Singapore has led the way so far thanks to the clear simplification of entry rules. The city-state only requires proof of full vaccinations and wants visitors to install tracking apps on their phones upon entry. As a result, air passenger traffic to Singapore reached 400,000 in the week to April 17, or 31% of pre-Covid-19 levels, Bloomberg News The country’s Civil Aviation Authority was cited.
Most Covid-19 tests cancelled
Malaysia requires vaccinated travelers to upload their proof of vaccination to an app, which then grants them a “digital traveler card” for entry. They don’t need testing.
To enter Indonesia, fully vaccinated travelers must still show proof of a negative PCR test within 48 hours of departure, but they will no longer need to take another PCR test on arrival.
Thailand has simplified the cumbersome “Thailand Pass” procedure by implementing a simpler process for fully vaccinated tourists, but still requires mandatory Covid-19 insurance covering the duration of the tourist’s stay. People with proof of a recognized vaccine no longer need to be tested.
In the country, where international tourism contributes about 15% of GDP (unofficially more), the number of foreign tourists in March was 38% higher than in February. The most tourists came from Singapore, followed by the UK, India, Germany and Australia. The Thai government said on April 27 that it expects tourist arrivals to reach 6.1 million this year, compared with just 427,869 in 2021. That number was close to 40 million in 2019.
JPMorgan downgrades Thailand’s credit rating on tourism recovery concerns
However, international analysts are less confident about the growth of Thailand’s tourism industry. Analysts at U.S. investment bank JPMorgan downgraded Thailand’s stock and industrial sectors on May 2, citing a slow pace of tourism recovery due to rising inflation, higher airfares and a surge in Covid-19 cases, as well as a slowdown in China. About a quarter of international tourists to Thailand had entered from China before the pandemic in the past.
Tourism in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy by gross domestic product faces a number of headwinds, in addition to a surge in global inflation, generally weaker consumer confidence and foreign exchange volatility, JPMorgan said. The bank’s brokerage downgraded both ratings to “neutral” from “overweight.”
Forward bookings show that Thailand is expected to reach 25% of pre-pandemic levels (or 10 million annual tourists) in the medium term, behind Singapore and the Philippines at 72% and 65%, respectively.
With the recent relaxation of entry rules, much of Southeast Asia is responding to the easing Covid-19 pandemic and reopening travel, with airline seats piling up as holiday-starved masses arrange their first overseas holiday in two years. The upward momentum picked up pace in April and is now in full swing as popular tourist destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia lifted quarantine rules for vaccinated travelers. Singapore has led the way so far thanks to the clear simplification of entry rules. The city-state only asks for proof of full vaccinations and wants visitors to…
With the recent relaxation of entry rules, much of Southeast Asia is responding to the easing Covid-19 pandemic and reopening travel, with airline seats piling up as holiday-starved masses arrange their first overseas holiday in two years.
The upward momentum picked up pace in April and is now in full swing as popular tourist destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia lifted quarantine rules for vaccinated travelers.
Singapore has led the way so far thanks to the clear simplification of entry rules. The city-state only requires proof of full vaccinations and wants visitors to install tracking apps on their phones upon entry. As a result, air passenger traffic to Singapore reached 400,000 in the week to April 17, or 31% of pre-Covid-19 levels, Bloomberg News The country’s Civil Aviation Authority was cited.
Most Covid-19 tests cancelled
Malaysia requires vaccinated travelers to upload their proof of vaccination to an app, which then grants them a “digital traveler card” for entry. They don’t need testing.
To enter Indonesia, fully vaccinated travelers must still show proof of a negative PCR test within 48 hours of departure, but they will no longer need to take another PCR test on arrival.
Thailand has simplified the cumbersome “Thailand Pass” procedure by implementing a simpler process for fully vaccinated tourists, but still requires mandatory Covid-19 insurance covering the duration of the tourist’s stay. People with proof of a recognized vaccine no longer need to be tested.
In the country, where international tourism contributes about 15% of GDP (unofficially more), the number of foreign tourists in March was 38% higher than in February. The most tourists came from Singapore, followed by the UK, India, Germany and Australia. The Thai government said on April 27 that it expects tourist arrivals to reach 6.1 million this year, compared with just 427,869 in 2021. That number was close to 40 million in 2019.
JPMorgan downgrades Thailand’s credit rating on tourism recovery concerns
However, international analysts are less confident about the growth of Thailand’s tourism industry. Analysts at U.S. investment bank JPMorgan downgraded Thailand’s stock and industrial sectors on May 2, citing a slow pace of tourism recovery due to rising inflation, higher airfares and a surge in Covid-19 cases, as well as a slowdown in China. About a quarter of international tourists to Thailand had entered from China before the pandemic in the past.
Tourism in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy by gross domestic product faces a number of headwinds, in addition to a surge in global inflation, generally weaker consumer confidence and foreign exchange volatility, JPMorgan said. The bank’s brokerage downgraded both ratings to “neutral” from “overweight.”
Forward bookings show that Thailand is expected to reach 25% of pre-pandemic levels (or 10 million annual tourists) in the medium term, behind Singapore and the Philippines at 72% and 65%, respectively.
