Tourism is starting to kick off slowly in Southeast Asia kicks again as the pandemic comes under control, but diverging solutions in healing the ravaged tourism industry highlight the challenges ahead.
Southeast Asia, home to some of the most tourism-reliant countries in the world, is reeling from the coronavirus-induced global lockdowns — and many of the region's travel industries are struggling to survive.
Even though other regions like Europe have seen travel-related activities lifted, Southeast Asia's borders have remained largely closed.. A May report by the UNWTO showed that Asia and the Pacific saw the "highest impact in relative and absolute terms" in the first three months of this year, with visitor arrivals falling some 33 million.
"Travelers can come to Thailand, and they can choose Bangkok or Phuket for their state quarantines," Tanes Petsuwan, deputy governor for marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told CNBC in an interview., Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and Timor-Leste remain closed to foreign arrivals, while non-essential travel for leisure and tourism is not allowed in the Philippines.
Tanes named Singapore and China as countries Thailand is keeping its sights on for possible travel bubbles in the future, which would allow residents from only these countries to move between each other.
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