Covid slowed tourism to Southeast Asia

The tourism business in Thailand is looking up, as some entry restrictions are due to be lifted from today.

On April 25, the Thai government had said that 713,183 international visitors had arrived in the country this year, with more than half of them being tourists, a report by Thaiger said.

While it has faced a lag, travel and tourism in Southeast Asia seems to be picking up as the industry targets more revellers to bridge the Covid-19 gap.

Thailand's Tourism Authority is now apparently hoping to attract at least 1 million tourists per month by the end of 2022, when the next high season begins.

One million tourists every month would be equivalent to around 30% of pre-Covid monthly arrivals. Various countries in these regions are travel hotspots for Indians, but Covid-19 had virtually put a stop to tourism.

Following Singapore, Malaysia is attempting to attract Indian tourists. Prior to the arrival of the Covid, Indians were the fourth most common visitors to Malaysia.

7.6 lakh Indian tourists visited Malaysia in 2019, according to Manoharan Periasamy, senior director, international promotion division, Asia/Africa, Tourism Malaysia, but no leisure travellers have visited since the outbreak of Covid-19, the report said.