ASEAN tourism badly hit by COVID-19

Phuket- one of Thailand’s the most famous beach cities which is loved by Chinese tourists, is now empty. It’s estimated that Chinese arrivals to ASEAN countries will fall up to 40 percent, causing a loss of 7 billion USD. 

Meanwhile in the port town of Sihanouk-ville, a well-known tourism destination in Cambodia, is experiencing pain from the pandemic.

The resort island of Bali has also been hit by the coronavirus crisis, with 40,000 hotel bookings having already been cancelled and the island’s economy going to lose almost 110 million USD per month, according to Bali’s Tourism Board.

In many tourism destinations in Vietnam, including Da Nang, Da Lat and Can Tho, the number of visitors has also decreased significantly.

To limit the impacts of COVID-19, Vietnam has deployed a special programme to help the country’s tourism sector overcome this hard time. This includes the establishment of a tourism coalition to create growth for the sector with the participation of big tourism companies, accommodation units, and airlines.

ASEAN countries are being seriously hit by new coronavirus. However, member countries in the bloc have been urged to join hands to strengthen sustainable collaboration through promotions which are expected to become a driving force for the sector to rebound.-VNA