On February 19, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a paper entitled “Post-Pandemic World Tourism: Economic Challenges and Opportunities for the Asia-Pacific and Western Hemisphere”. It is an in-depth analysis that focuses on the economic challenges and opportunities facing the sector in Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean countries.
Thailand plays a prominent role in this groundbreaking paper as the tourism sector accounted for 12 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, making this Southeast Asian nation the ninth largest tourist recipient in the world, and the fourth largest in terms of spending Overseas visitors.
The IMF study shows how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up more than 90 percent of companies in the Thai hospitality sector. Given their small size and limited access to finance compared to large multinationals, “these companies have fewer opportunities for resilience and diversification to deal with shocks.”
To revive the sector after its lockdown-induced collapse, the Washington DC-based institution commends the Thai government’s efforts to boost domestic tourism by providing $ 700 million to subsidize travel for healthcare workers and finance transportation costs Domestic long distance calls provide travel, among other measures.
However, the IMF does not appear to be convinced of the overall value of these initiatives as “the domestic tourism market was generally small in both travel size and value ”in the country.
It is estimated that a fifth of those employed in the Thai hospitality sector come from neighboring countries with lower wages, mainly Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The report therefore notes that given the high level of informality of migrant workers, especially women, they are unlikely to have access to this type of safety nets if they become sick or lose their jobs.
An ‘A’ for trouble
The study also shows how agile Bangkok has acted agile in the face of pandemic restrictions and has taken policy measures to boost the vital tourism sector.
The IMF notes that the international travel bubbles with Australia and Vietnam had to be postponed last summer after a second wave of outbreaks in those countries – something that is beyond Bangkok’s control. However, the fund warns that travel insurance policies need to be strengthened for similar policies to be successful.
Source: Haver Analytics, Ministry of Tourism and Sports Thailand
Another highlighted measure, presumably aimed at identifying practices that could be replicated by other countries, is Thailand’s Special Tourist Visa (STV). The program, which was launched in October 2020 and mainly targets Chinese travelers, was expanded to all countries in early December.
Thailand is now considering waiving the current two-week quarantine for vaccinated international visitors or reducing it to just three days.
The IMF credits Thailand with a constructive and sustainable post-COVID-19 vision for its tourism sector.
“Development plans include a shift from mass tourism to niche and higher value added tourism in order to improve the value chain and reduce the carbon footprint and damage to natural resources,” the report said.
As many would agree, promoting social distancing is essential in restoring travelers’ confidence. In this context, the authors of the paper applaud the country’s private sector for researching technological innovations such as hotel check-ins, temperature monitoring and digitally self-guided tourism.
The health factor
Thailand has most of the resources needed to “accommodate new travel habits and protocols with quality health systems that can accommodate and partially alleviate health concerns for visitors in need of medical attention.”
The IMF also stresses how well Thailand is able to develop its development Health tourism potential – Before the pandemic, the country was ranked 4th in the world in medical and wellness tourism.
Assuming widespread vaccination can contain the pandemic around the world, the IMF shows some confidence in the ability of the Thai tourism industry to recover. “The sector has also proven resilient in the past, weathering episodes of political unrest and natural disasters. It is also backed by longstanding accommodative visa guidelines, a well-connected airport hub, and strong strategic oversight from the Thai Tourism Authority. ”
And even if the challenges prove to be too overwhelming to fully revitalize the sector, Thailand is an example of a tourism-dependent economy where existing manufacturing capacity and expertise offer many options to diversify the economy, particularly in equipment as well Industrial and electrical machines.
As the IMF notes, many “tourism-dependent countries have relatively little export complexity that affects their options for new product development” if their tourism industries do not recover. However, this does not appear to be the case for Thailand.
On the subject of matching items:
ASEAN with a focus on domestic tourism
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