BANGKOK – Southeast Asia’s tourism industry is working with governments to make the most of a sluggish New Year celebration by encouraging domestic travel and shopping as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to exclude visitors from abroad.

In the Asia-Pacific region, overseas arrivals declined 300 million, or 84%, year over year in 2020, according to the World Tourism Organization. That was the biggest decline of any region in the world. With new waves of the deadly virus affecting many countries in Southeast Asia, the slowdown has extended to 2021.

Chinese tourists traditionally flock to the area’s hotels, restaurants, and souvenir shops during the Lunar New Year, bringing their wallets with them. This year, however, a shortage of overseas travelers has led tourism companies to look for customers closer to where they live.

Many discounts are available in Thailand on hotel websites and through booking services. A mountain-view suite at the Courtyard Khaoyai by Paka, a five-star hotel in a highland national park in Thailand, was listed on Agoda for 6,493 baht ($ 217) for two nights during the Lunar New Year, almost 50% less than usual in the hotel rating.

“In contrast to times without COVID, our data shows that beaches and scenery are more popular than city breaks and high-energy destinations,” said Timothy Hughes, vice president of corporate development at Agoda.

This year the Lunar New Year will be a public holiday in Thailand for the first time. The government added another special holiday in April, July and September to give people longer weekends in hopes of encouraging domestic travel.

The government launched the We Travel Together program in July 2020 to revive the dying tourism industry. Thai tourists only have to pay 60% of normal room rates, the rest is subsidized by the government. The government also pays 40% of the cost of airline tickets.

The tax authorities allocated 22.4 billion baht for the program in 2020. Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has promised that the program will be funded enough to continue this year. Hotels are counting on it – and adding their own discounts to attract more local guests despite the added sanitation costs. The government is keen to support the industry as tourism accounted for around a fifth of the kingdom’s gross domestic product before the pandemic.

However, these efforts will not make up for the lack of Chinese visitors. Thai Chamber of Commerce University President Thanavath Phonvichai said Thailand’s consumer spending will drop 22% to 44.9 billion baht during the Lunar New Year.

The second wave of coronavirus, which swept through Thailand from mid-December, kept people from going out or traveling, and the government and businesses were unable to organize promotional events to attract crowds. Bangkok City Council has decided not to hold New Year celebrations in Yaowarat, the capital’s Chinatown.

A traditional Chinese lion dance is performed in Bangkok’s Chinatown during the New Year celebrations in 2019. © Reuters

Retail giant The Mall Group is set to spend 120 million baht on its New Year holiday advertising campaign, which is unchanged from last year. The company offers special discounts and is holding a raffle. But it seems it won’t be hiring Thai pop stars to visit stores as it did in 2020 because a ton of fans would make social distancing difficult.

The supermarket chain Tesco Lotus, meanwhile, is aimed at people who have chosen to quietly celebrate at home with their families. It offers free delivery for the New Years special that is priced above 100 baht.

Singapore’s tourism industry, which welcomed 2.4 million visitors in January and February 2020, is also banking on spending by local residents, many of whom would travel overseas in normal times, as a distancing measure.

For example, the legendary Marina Bay Sands Hotel offers a package with a Chinese New Year themed lunch. Many hotels offer New Year’s meals for takeout and delivery in hopes of attracting businesses from those who prefer to stay home.

Many hotels and related businesses are also taking advantage of the Singapore government’s stimulus package. In December, the government launched a travel subsidy campaign offering all adult Singaporeans a $ 100 Singapore dollar ($ 75) digital voucher to be used at local hotels, tourist attractions and other venues.

A view of Marina Bay Sands, one of the most famous places in Singapore. Many hotels in the city-state offer takeout and delivery meals for the Lunar New Year to make up for the loss of tourists. © Reuters

Regional travel agencies like Trip.com, based in China and Traveloka, based in Indonesia, have partnered with the Singapore Tourism Board to handle bookings for voucher users. According to the government agency, 300,000 people took part in the funding program in the first month. The campaign runs until June.

Indonesia has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, and its tourism sector took a hit when the country closed its borders to most overseas arrivals. Foreign tourist arrivals fell by 75% in 2020, with the occupancy of star hotels averaging 41% in December, a decrease of almost 20 percentage points compared to 2019.

Many hotels in the archipelago implemented a “Pay Now, Stay Later” system during the pandemic, which allows room fees for a later stay to be paid in advance at a discounted rate.

“The program was originally developed at the beginning of the pandemic in the hope that COVID-19 can be overcome by the end of the year,” said Hariyadi Sukamdani, chairman of the Indonesian Hotels & Restaurants Association. “However, many of our members have [had to] extend their stay … until 2022, “he added. Some members have introduced package deals that offer airline tickets and hotel rooms at discounted prices.

Like many other hotels, the Tauzia Hotel Group, which operates more than 60 hotels across Indonesia, has launched a Pay-Now-Stay-Later program. “We will [continue] the program through March, “said Irene Janti, the company’s marketing director.” But after that we are still undecided whether to extend it. On the one hand, there is hope that vaccines can increase people’s confidence in travel, on the other hand, government policy is still difficult for us to predict, to take strategic action, “Janti said.

Additional coverage from Kentaro Iwamoto in Singapore and Shotaro Tani in Jakarta.

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