Several tourism dependent Southeast Asian countries are looking at Indian tourists. Amid Covid 19 induced restrictions, Chinese outbound tourists are still missing and all indications are that they will not return anytime soon.
China, with a population of 1.4 billion, has been one of the main drivers of the global tourism industry, estimated at $ 5.81 trillion.
Though India does not feature among the top countries with the highest number of outbound tourists, it remains one of the largest source markets for countries such as Maldives, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Before the economic collapse in Sri Lanka, Indian tourists even flocked to the island nation. Tour operators said that these countries are throwing the red carpet for the Indian tourists.
In 2019, the number of outbound tourists from China touched about 155 million, almost three times as many as 2010, according to data collation portal Statista.
But since the Covid 19 pandemic, the number of outbound tourists has dropped drastically. In 2020, there were only about 20.3 million outbound tourists from China and in 2021 the number increased only marginally.
“Until the Chinese tourists return, concerns for tourism dependent countries especially several Southeast Asian destinations including popular hotspot Thailand and Vietnam will remain,” Subhash Goyal, President, Confederation of Tourism Professionals told India Narrative. However, he said that Indian tourists have started venturing out.
The Covid 19 induced stringent restrictions this year has once again dampened sentiments.
According to a McKinsey study, cross-border travel may take longer than anticipated to recover. Scaled outbound flows are unlikely to resume before the second half of 2022, or the first half of 2023, it said.
Besides China, countries including the US, UK, Germany and Australia have the largest number of outbound tourists.
Tourism industry has a multiplier effect as it directly impacts other sectors such as hospitality, transport, micro, small and medium enterprises, among others.
Prior to the pandemic, the travel industry – direct and indirect accounted for 1 in 4 of all new jobs created across the globe, a report by World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) revealed.
In 2020, 62 million jobs were lost after the world shut down due to the pandemic– a drop of 18.6 per cent, leaving just 271 million employed across the sector globally, compared to 333 million in 2019. Though 18.2 million jobs were recovered in 2021, this was just a 6.7 per cent year-on-year.
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