Thailand
Philippines among the ‘laggards’ in Asia’s tourism revival
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ tourism industry is poised to recover last in Asia as the country struggles to arrest coronavirus spread, likely dealing a huge blow on what was once a booming dollar source for the economy.
Together with India, Malaysia and Indonesia, the Philippines is likely to be among the “laggards” in Asia’s tourism revival, ANZ Research said in a report on Friday. This is because these destinations remain “weak” in terms of reopening to tourists amid a sluggish domestic vaccination and uncontrolled local outbreaks.
“So until their domestic virus situation is deemed lowrisk, the tourism sectors in India, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia are likely to be the laggards, even though they have relatively higher exposure to tourists from economies that are ahead of the vaccination curve,” ANZ explained.
On the other end of the spectrum, Singapore appears to be the best-placed to lead the tourism recovery in the region, ANZ said. It has had few to no local virus transmission in recent months and has the fastest vaccine rollout in the region, prompting Singaporean authorities to reopen its borders to travellers from Australia, Brunei, mainland China, New Zealand and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Thailand has been “proactive” in trying to kick-start the recovery of its tourism sector. It has reopened its borders to international tourists since fourth quarter last year, and recently reduced quarantine restrictions for vaccinated travellers. “Still, the pace of domestic vaccination nationwide will hinder the pace of the recovery,” ANZ said.
If ANZ’s outlook is realized, it would not be surprising at all after the Philippines was shut off to the rest of the world from March to September last year as part of lockdowns to control the pandemic’s spread.
The consequence was massive. Tourist receipts in 2020 crashed to P82.24 billion from a record-high of P482.15 billion in 2019. At the same time, foreign arrivals plummeted to just 1.48 million last year, down 82.05% year-on-year.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was hoping for tourism to gain ground. From a massive 79.5% annual slump in 2020 income, tourist receipts are seen to grow 15% this year and a faster 20% in 2022.
But that target — together with the tourism department’s own goal of capturing 10 million foreigners by 2022 — has become more difficult to achieve now after a renewed surge in infections triggered fresh restrictions in Metro Manila and four nearby areas, which some sectors partly blamed to the tourism reopening.
What is sure for now is that focus had been diverted to supporting local tourism in low-risk areas, as the government has yet to indicate when it plans to reopen borders to foreign travelers. “A contained domestic virus outbreak is a pre-requisite for a tourism recovery,” ANZ said.
“Economies with high COVID-19 cases will have a more challenging time capturing travel demand and negotiating travel bubble arrangements, regardless of their own reopening policies,” it added.
Source: https://www.philstar.com/business/2021/04/09/2089991/philippines-among-laggards-asias-tourism-revival