U.S. Visitors Driving Southeast Asia's Recovery So Far
Photo Credit: Tourists pose for a selfie outside Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Mai, Thailand. pixabay / Peggy_Marco
Skift Take
Yes, travel is back but with China and Japan largely out of the Southeast Asian inbound equation, the recovery will be bumpy and lagging in many ways.
With the tourist havens of Southeast Asia flinging open their doors to international tourists, the response has been anything but disappointing.
However, even as the region’s largest source market — China, is still effectively closed and Japan, another major market for travel, is reopening very cautiously, visitors from the U.S. have been driving tourism recovery in the region.
The American inbound traffic to Southeast Asia is set to reach 75 percent of 2019 levels, according to market intelligence firm ForwardKeys.
This recovery in inbound traffic from the U.S. is by far the strongest among Southeast Asia’s long-haul market. The next healthiest source market is Australia, where bookings are currently at 60 percent of 2019 levels, followed by Germany at 58 percent and United Kingdom at
