Tourism recovery in Malaysia, S’pore, Thailand expected to be faster

Maybank Research Pte Ltd., through a survey released on Friday, indicated the fastest recovery of tourists in Southeast Asia would occur in countries with a high concentration of casinos: Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

The data indicates that total visitor visits to these places will see a significant uptick in 2024, growing at a pace of around 27% as opposed to 130 percent in 2023. By December 2024, Maybank Research predicts that these locations will have recovered to 98 percent of their pre-pandemic levels.

The analysis indicates that mainland China’s contribution to the recovery of tourists is expected to remain low. Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore are predicted to have a faster recovery in overall tourist arrivals to the ASEAN-6 (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). While total visitor arrivals to ASEAN were at 77 percent of pre-pandemic levels in November 2023—just slightly higher than 61 percent in January 2023—the report cautioned that patterns had been erratic leading into the new year.

Maybank Research indicates that although Singapore (71%) and Malaysia (72%) have had slightly stronger visitor recoveries, the Philippines (66%), has seen the smallest growth. In Thailand and Vietnam, where the latter is largely used as a casino jurisdiction for foreign players, the total number of tourist visits for 2023 fulfilled official expectations.

The research indicates that in the second half of 2023, the Asia-Pacific region’s recovery in outbound tourism, especially in China, stalled. Maybank projects that it will take until late 2025 for outbound Chinese tourists to return to pre-pandemic levels. By November 2023, China’s tourism to ASEAN had only returned to 38% of pre-pandemic levels.

This recovery was slowed down by factors including reduced consumer spending, limited capacity for foreign travel, and the perception of longer processing times for visa applications. With additional airline capacity, lower airfares, and the removal of visa requirements for Chinese citizens, Maybank predicts a more significant rebound in tourism in 2024.

Original story by: GGRAsia