Thailand has sold itself as a Paradise Covid Retreat. Nobody came

It’s hard to imagine a more luxurious place to spend two weeks in quarantine than the Anantara Phuket Suites & Villas in Thailand, where visitors are pampered in private residences with their own pool and courtyard.

Even more than three months after the resort and more than a hundred people as it was reopened to travelers with a long stay in an effort to revive Thailand’s battered economy, foreign arrivals failed to meet even the lowest expectations to comply. According to the Thailand Longstay Company, which helps facilitate the program, an average of only 346 visitors a month with special visas have entered the country since October. That is well below the government’s target of about 1,200 and a small fraction of the more than 3 million that came before the pandemic.

The lukewarm response to the reopening of Thailand illustrates the problems facing tourist-dependent countries while trying to intensify economic growth, while also protecting citizens from Covid-19 before vaccines become widely available.

Thailand hoped to attract retirees who would escape the European winter and others who could stay for a long time. They will have to go through quarantine, but this can be done in the comfort of high resorts in a country that was relatively unharmed by the pandemic. After two weeks, Thailand would roam as long as they nine months.

The lack of interest is putting pressure on Thai policymakers, who have struggled to accommodate both industry players and demand relaxed quarantine rules, and public health experts who warn of endangering people. While the beaches remain empty, many tourism-related companies go out of business all the time. To make matters worse, virus cases have jumped in the country.

“It’s really challenging to balance the demands of the tourism industry and locals,” said Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, president of the Phuket Tourist Association. ‘I understand how difficult it is to be stuck in a room for 14 days. I did it. But the safety of the people takes precedence because tourists come and go, but residents live here. ”

In 2019, Thailand received more than $ 60 billion in tourism revenue from about 40 million visitors. Before the pandemic, the industry contributed about one-fifth of the gross domestic product, compared to about 10% worldwide.

But six months without any foreign arrivals followed by months with just a drop hurt the sector. At least 931 registered tourism-related companies closed last year, according to a Bloomberg News analysis of data from the Department of Commerce’s Department of Business Development. The real number is probably much higher, as many tourism businesses are not registered in any database.

Closed companies

At least 931 registered companies in the Thai tourism sector closed in 2020

Sources: Department of Business Development, Bloomberg

On Thailand’s famous resort islands, the situation is particularly bad. Take Phuket, which before the pandemic received about 90% of its tourism revenue from foreign visitors. In Patong, its main tourist town, a once busy street of pubs and nightclubs is empty. Bangla Road is lined with shuttered businesses, with chairs stacked on tables and chains providing access. Dust accumulates on the bar stools and worksheets. The few open spaces have rare customers.

“If there are no foreigners, the area is just empty,” Rungarun Loiluen said. He works at The Kitchen, a restaurant and bar at the end of Bangla Road. She is one of eight employees who retained their jobs from about 30 before the pandemic, even though it had fewer working hours. “Hardly anyone walks down the road.”

With the next block, Hotel Clover Patong Phuket has reduced its prices by as much as 75% to attract local travelers instead of its usual customers of American, Russian and Chinese tourists. According to Jessada Srivichian, the hotel’s financial manager, it reached about 10% occupancy in December, a period previously discussed.

Go to Phuket for the beaches, stay for the food and adventure

Despite the government’s efforts to promote tourism businesses, such as By subsidizing the cost of hotel rooms, meals and airfare, domestic tourists who usually travel only on weekends can not fill the gap left by foreign visitors. Although only half of the country’s hotels have reopened, the average occupancy rate is only 34%, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said in an interview in December.

“I was in Phuket for 20 years and have never seen it so quiet,” said Jessada of Hotel Clover. “We need international visitors. We are not thinking of making a profit, but rather of minimizing losses, because as long as there is a requirement for quarantine, people will not come. ”

The government should consider waiving the required isolation for visitors from regions of countries without local infections for more than 60 days, Vichit Prakobgosol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said in late September. He hoped the rule for visitors from some parts of China, Thailand’s largest source of tourism, would be relaxed. But such an agreement was not concluded.

“It seems impractical to double the travel time to meet local quarantine requirements,” said Ron Cooper, an American photographer and business consultant who traveled abroad several times a year before the pandemic. “Add to that the cost of staying in a hotel for two unproductive weeks – not a very attractive proposition.”

Holidays

The average length of stay for 40 million tourists in 2019 was 9.3 days

Source: Ministry of Tourism and Sport

Thailand’s approach contrasts with other tourism destinations that were less cautious. The Maldives reopened to overseas tourists in July without requiring a quarantine, although a negative Covid-19 test is required. According to Maldives immigration data, the archipelago has since reached more than 172,000 people. While new infections increased in the aftermath, it has since decreased.

“It was daring and daring to open up the Maldives with all the risks involved,” said Dirk De Cuyper, CEO of S Hotels & Resorts Pcl. Its December occupancy rate at Maldives properties was 70%. And that could be bad news for Thailand, he said. “Many travelers will not buy in quarantine, especially if other countries open and they have no quarantine rules.”

But most Thais opposed the reopening plan and probably wants relaxed quarantine rules, in part because locals live near the resorts, unlike in the Maldives, where properties are often isolated on their own islands.

“If I had to choose between health and income, I would choose health,” said Wiparad Noiphao, a fruit and vegetable seller at the Banzaan Fresh Market in Patong. “We need to prioritize safety.”

Majority of Thais oppose lifting tourist ban on virus fear

As a compromise, the government’s task force discussed Covid-19 to shorten the quarantine period to ten days. But it has yet to be implemented due to concerns about new infections. The government has also six golf courses approved as quarantine centers.

“Any change to the original plan will involve higher risks,” said Thira Woratanarat, associate professor at the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University. “There are many examples of free international travel that have led to a revival,” he gave the example of Europe. “We have to wait until the global virus situation improves.”

Cockfighting, Gambling Makes Thailand’s Covid Fight Harder

A revival of the virus has also weakened the case for easing quarantine rules. Thailand has more than doubled Covid-19 infections in less than a month to more than 11,000. An outbreak that started in seafood markets and migrant communities has spread across the country. The government has curtailed travel in some high-risk areas, but has so far refrained from introducing a broad closure. It also has expanded its travel subsidy program.