Thailand tourism predicted at 80% of pre-Covid in 2023

Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn just predicted that next year, revenue from tourism will hit 80% of the level it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. He made the bold prediction at the 22nd World Travel and Tourism Council Global Summit, being held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.

At that summit, the TAT was invited to take part and present its path to successfully bringing back tourism as it nears the goal of 10 million international visitors by the end of this year. The governor served as a speaker on the panel “The Recovery of Travel in Asia and the Pacific.”

The National News Bureau of Thailand reports that Yuthasak highlighted Thailand’s more eco-friendly, sustainable, and inclusive tourism coming out of the pandemic. After borders were closed and then slowly reopened with various quarantines, lockdowns, and restrictions, Thailand has now fully reopened without restriction and seeing a boom in international travellers.

The TAT plans to continuously collaborate with the tourism industry and other sectors and concentrate on innovations to make tourism stronger and healthier going forwards. The Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model which has been a sustainability focus for the government is implemented in tourism campaigns as well. The TAT governor also touted the “Visit Thailand Year 2022-2023: Amazing New Chapters” marketing programme that promotes the country’s popular tourist attractions as well as introduces new ones.

With a goal of an 80% recovery of the tourism industry for 2023, which would be about 32 million visitors, Thailand surpassed the nine million visitor mark this year already. Some 9.4 million people entered the country from the beginning of the year to the end of November.

Now, between all airports and land borders, 50,000 to 60,000 people enter the kingdom per day. Malaysia continues to be the number one source of international tourists, with 1.5 million travellers crossing the Thai border this year. But, with the recent resumption of many flights from Russia, the number of European visitors and other long-distance travellers is increasing. The TAT governor attributed this in part to Thailand being a great warm-weather escape from the cold winters in Europe.

Source - The Thaiger

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#US travel industry to see 40% drop in spending: Study

Domestic US travel spending is expected to collapse this year amid the corona-virus pandemic, suffering a 40 percent decline compared to 2019, while international spending will plunge 75 percent, according to new research.

The report, commissioned by the US Travel Association, showed spending by US residents will drop to $583 billion this year from $972 billion last year.

Total travel spending, including domestic and international visitors, is projected to fall 45 percent to $622 billion, according to research by Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics.

That decline follows three years of steady, albeit modest, growth of around four percent a year, although international travel dipped in 2019.

The association labeled the downturn "The Great Travel Depression," and said 8.1 million travel jobs have been lost.

The group is lobbying Congress to provide additional support for the travel industry, including expanding the popular Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to include organizations that promote tourist or business venues and also provide $10 billion in grants to provide healthy travel practices.

These destination marketing organizations "drive demand and economic development to communities across the country and are vital to recovery," the association said in a LinkedIn post Thursday.

"We need relief, protection and stimulus to revive the travel industry and set America on the path toward recovery."

Other sectors also are seeking more support beyond, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are crafting legislation to help the food services industry, which has been hard hit by the shutdowns and fears of the virus, leaving businesses struggling to attract customers and remain profitable.

Some businesses may face renewed struggles when the short-term PPP funding runs out if shoppers and diners fail to return.

The National Press Club in Washington -- which has two restaurants and hosts numerous events and luncheons -- told its members Friday it will furlough 50 of 113 employees, and cut the pay of remaining workers by 15 percent after its PPP funds were used up.

Source - TheJakartaPost

Indonesia - Two decades for broken coral reefs to recover

The Environment and Forestry Ministry has announced that broken coral reefs covering 1,020 square meters near Pari Island of Thousand Island regency, which were damaged after cargo ship Ghanda Nusantara 15 rammed into them on Saturday night, will take over 20 years to recover.

Iksan, a ministry official who conducted a survey at the site of the incident, told The Jakarta Post recently that the majority of the damaged area consisted of hard coral — also known as stony coral — which takes a long time to grow.

“It takes 20 years or more for such kinds of coral reefs to recover to their normal condition, before the incident took place,” Iksan said, adding that the ministry would study the results over the next several days to determine total losses from the incident.

The ship’s owner, as regulated in Law. No 32/2009 on environmental management and protection, will have to pay for the losses, with the money being used for restoration of the coral reefs.

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Article 2 of the law states that every person or institution proven to have damaged environment is obliged to pay a certain amount of compensation.

The Thousand Island Police said separately that the ship, owned by the Transportation Ministry, reportedly rammed into the coral reefs near the island at around 7:15 p.m. on Saturday.

The ship, intended to sail from Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan to Tidung Island of Thousand Islands regency, was stuck near Pari Island due to bad weather. It was swept away by strong waves and finally left stranded atop the pristine coral reefs.

“Six crew members aboard have been evacuated by Pari Island residents, with help from officials from the fire and rescue agency,” said Thousand Islands Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Viktor Siagian. The ship’s crew were then brought to the police to be questioned.

Local residents urged the government to quickly move the vessel from the site to avoid further damage to the coral reefs.

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One of the local residents, Ahmad Taufik, 36, said the coral reefs played a significant role in boosting the island’s tourism. Pari Island is among the top tourist destinations in Thousand Islands regency, along with Tidung and Bidadari Islands.

Ahmad added that coral reef damage from ships occasionally occurred in the island’s waters. He, together with other residents concerned with marine protection, would replant the coral reefs using compensation from the owners of the ships that caused the environmental damage.

“At least one similar incident happens in the island’s waters every year, but the ships that caused the damage have never been as big as the [Ghanda Nusantara] ship,” Ahmad told the Post via phone. The Ghanda Nusantara has a weight of around 92 gross tons.

Environmental group Greenpeace urged the government to finish the valuation soon to figure out how much the ship’s owners had to pay.

It could be a great loss, said Greenpeace Southeast Asia oceans campaigner Arifsyah Nasution, reflecting on a similar incident that had occurred last year in Raja Ampat waters in Papua.

“Seeing the case at Raja Ampat, each square meter of damage had to be compensated with up to US$1,200,” he said.

On March 4, British cruise ship Caledonian Sky ran aground in Raja Ampat waters, West Papua, destroying nearly 13,000 sqm of coral reef.

Source - TheJakartaPost