Southeast Asia opens in November… Competitive reopening, led by Thailand and Singapore

(Bangkok = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Nam-kwon = Southeast Asia will open its borders in earnest from November, which were closed due to the Corona 19 incident.

As there are not a few countries where the tourism industry accounts for a large part of the economy, it seems that they are competing to revive the tourism industry to recover the economy that has plummeted due to the COVID-19.

There is also a concern that if the reopening lags behind other countries, the initiative to attract tourists may be taken away.

According to Southeast Asian media and foreign media on the 31st, Thailand is the country that reopens its borders on the largest scale.

From the 1st of next month, visitors from 46 countries, including Korea, who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to enter the country without quarantine.

After you arrive in Thailand, you can stay in a hotel for a day or two and travel around Thailand freely if your PCR test is confirmed to be negative.

Prime Minister Prayut Chanocha stressed the need for reopening, saying that if Thailand reopens too late, foreign tourists will turn to other places.

Thailand’s tourism industry directly or indirectly accounts for nearly 20% of its gross domestic product (GDP).

However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak last year, the number of tourists from about 40 million in 2019 plummeted to 6.7 million.

For this reason, the economic growth rate last year was -6.1%, the worst since the 1998 foreign exchange crisis (-7.6%).

Singapore, which has the world’s highest completion rate of COVID-19 vaccination at 84%, has already started reopening from this month, and will further expand it in November.

Singapore, which has been implementing ‘With Corona’ since August to manage Corona 19 and coexist, has been conducting non-isolation entry for 10 countries including the US and the UK and those who have already been vaccinated against COVID-19 since mid-March.

Australia and Switzerland will be added on the 8th of next month, and Korea will be added to the list of ‘non-isolated entry countries’ from the 15th.

Other Southeast Asian countries are also embarking on a limited and trial reopening, centered on famous tourist destinations.

From the 15th of next month, Malaysia will open the resort island of Langkawi to foreigners as well.

However, tourists can visit the island only if they have travel insurance of at least $80,000 (about 94 million won). You must also complete your COVID-19 vaccination and stay on the island for at least three days.

The Malaysian government will also consider whether to open other tourist destinations based on the results of the three-month test opening on Langkawi.

Vietnam will also test open some tourist destinations, including Phu Quoc Island, to overseas visitors who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 from the 20th of next month.

It is known that the policy is to quarantine for 7 days upon arrival, but Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported on the 28th that overseas visitors who tested negative for COVID-19 do not need to be quarantined.

Even in Vietnam, the tourism industry accounts for more than 10% of gross domestic product (GDP), but has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.

The number of foreign visitors, which reached 18 million in 2019, before the coronavirus, fell to 3.8 million last year.

Indonesia has been opening Bali, Bintan, and Batam Islands to foreign tourists who have been vaccinated from 18 countries, including Korea, China, and Japan, from the 14th of this month.

A five-day mandatory quarantine is required.

Cambodia also decided to open Sihanoukville and Koh Rong Island, which are marine sports attractions, and Dara Sakor, a resort area, from the 30th of next month for those who have been vaccinated.

After staying in the area for at least 5 days and undergoing additional tests, it is possible to move to another area.

On the other hand, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Laos are not yet ready to reopen due to the high number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 or a coup d’état.

“All (ASEAN) countries are watching what others are doing, and many tourism ministers have said they don’t want to lag behind their ASEAN peers,” said Fair Anderson, a travel expert, told the Straits Times. did.

“Governments around the world are realizing that if they don’t open their doors to foreign tourists again this year, there will be little tourism left,” he added.

Malaysia’s tourism minister, Nancy Shukri, said in a recent interview with CNBC that Malaysia does not want to be pushed out of the country as neighboring countries are easing border lockdowns on international travelers, the newspaper reported.

According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the tourism industry is estimated to account for 12.1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Southeast Asia.

south@yna.co.kr

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2021/10/31 11:10 Send