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In recent months, Southeast Asian countries have begun to remove restrictions imposed during the pandemic, but the recovery in tourism is likely to be slow.
The open-air Borobodur temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
As of today, Indonesia has lifted all quarantine needs for foreign visitors, two years after imposing border restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. The announcement was made through the Minister of Tourism and Economy, Sandiaga Uno, who expressed hope that the easing of travel restrictions will raise the number of foreign tourists to more than 3 million in 2022.
“With a more controlled control of the pandemic . . . we say that the no-quarantine policy has been extended to all of Indonesia,” Sandiaga said, according to Reuters. The announcement comes after the successful implementation of a quarantine exemption trial. for visitors to Bali, as well as the islands of Batam and Bintan, near Singapore. The minister clarified that foreign tourists will still have to take a negative PCR test before entering the country.
Around 143,700 foreign tourists ventured to Indonesia in January, up 13. 6% from the same month in 2021, Reuters reported. However, before the pandemic, Indonesia attracted more than a million visitors every month.
The announcement comes as Indonesia recorded just 4,699 new COVID-19 cases, less than a tenth of the country’s count through mid-February – the latest evidence that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads temporarily but then dies. The Philippines saw a similarly alarming surge in early January before case numbers declined rapidly.
The disappearance of the Omicron risk has caused several Southeast Asian countries to abandon restrictions imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the early months of 2020 and try to rebuild their economically important tourism sectors.
On February 10, the Philippines fully reopened to foreign tourism, followed by Vietnam on March 15. On March 18, Cambodia lifted its COVID-19 screening requirement for foreign visitors, while visitors to Thailand, which waived its quarantine requirement for the first time in November, effective April 1, no longer They will want to do a check before boarding a flight to the country. Malaysia’s borders will open to foreign tourists early next month, with the country’s government welcoming 2 million visitors by 2022.
The recovery of Southeast Asia’s tourism sector appears to be one component of the broader economic recovery. Thailand attracted nearly 40 million visitors in 2019, the year before the pandemic, while Malaysia attracted 26. 1 million, Singapore 19. 1 million, Vietnam 18 million and Indonesia 16. 1 million.
Meanwhile, 8. 26 million foreigners visited the Philippines in 2019, as well as 6. 6 million visitors to Cambodia and 4. 79 million to Laos. That same year, Myanmar was among the world’s fastest-growing tourism markets, before COVID-19 and the military. The coup d’état last February reversed this immediate growth.
While the flurry of openings points the way toward the beginning of the end for Southeast Asia’s tourism recession, and a degree of relief for hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods rely on flows of international visitors, recovery is likely to be slow. Leaving aside the possible emergence of a new variant of COVID-19, China’s “zero COVID” policy and the international sanctions against Russia, the latter of which has left thousands of travelers stranded in Thailand and Indonesia, are both likely to weigh heavily on the sector for the immediate term.
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As of today, Indonesia has lifted all quarantine needs for foreign visitors, two years after imposing border restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. The announcement was made through the Minister of Tourism and Economy, Sandiaga Uno, who expressed hope that the easing of travel restrictions will raise the number of foreign tourists to more than 3 million in 2022.
“With a more controlled control of the pandemic . . . we say that the no-quarantine policy has been extended to all of Indonesia,” Sandiaga said, according to Reuters. The announcement comes after the successful implementation of a quarantine exemption trial. for visitors to Bali, as well as the islands of Batam and Bintan, near Singapore. The minister clarified that foreign tourists will still have to take a negative PCR test before entering the country.
Around 143,700 foreign tourists ventured to Indonesia in January, up 13. 6% from the same month in 2021, Reuters reported. However, before the pandemic, Indonesia attracted more than a million visitors every month.
The announcement comes as Indonesia recorded just 4,699 new COVID-19 cases, less than a tenth of the country’s tally through mid-February — the latest evidence that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads temporarily but then dies. The Philippines saw a similarly alarming increase in early January before the number of cases declined rapidly.
The disappearance of the Omicron risk has caused several Southeast Asian countries to abandon the restrictions imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the first months of 2020 and try to rebuild their economically important tourism sectors.
On Feb. 10, the Philippines fully reopened to foreign tourism, followed by Vietnam on March 15. On March 18, Cambodia dropped its COVID-19 verification requirement for foreign visitors, while visitors to Thailand, which waived its quarantine requirement in November, began in April. 1, you will no longer want to get a check before boarding a flight into the country. Malaysia’s borders are expected to open to foreign tourists early next month, and the country’s government will welcome 2 million visitors by 2022.
The recovery of Southeast Asia’s tourism sector is emerging as a key component of the broader economic recovery. Thailand attracted around 40 million visitors in 2019, the year before the pandemic, while Malaysia attracted 26. 1 million, Singapore 19. 1 million, Vietnam 18 million and Indonesia 16. 1 million.
Meanwhile, 8. 26 million foreigners visited the Philippines in 2019, as well as 6. 6 million visitors to Cambodia and 4. 79 million to Laos. That same year, Myanmar was among the world’s fastest-growing tourism markets, before COVID-19 and the military. The coup d’état last February reversed this immediate growth.
Although the wave of openings portends the beginning of the end of the tourism recession in Southeast Asia and some relief for thousands of people whose livelihoods depend on foreign visitor flows, the recovery is likely to be slow. Beyond the potential emergence of a new COVID-19 variant, China’s zero-COVID policy and foreign sanctions against Russia, the latter of which has stranded thousands of travelers in Thailand and Indonesia, are likely to weigh heavily on the sector for the time being.
As of today, Indonesia has lifted all quarantine needs for foreign visitors, two years after imposing border restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19. The announcement was made through the Minister of Tourism and Economy, Sandiaga Uno, who expressed hope that the easing of travel restrictions will raise the number of foreign tourists to more than 3 million in 2022.
“With a more controlled control of the pandemic . . . we say that the no-quarantine policy has been extended to all of Indonesia,” Sandiaga said, according to Reuters. The announcement comes after the successful implementation of a quarantine exemption trial. for visitors to Bali, as well as the islands of Batam and Bintan, near Singapore. The minister clarified that foreign tourists will still have to take a negative PCR test before entering the country.
Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia Editor at The Diplomat.