Destinations in the Asia Pacific region are “diligently” preparing to reopen their borders and cater for international travellers with different needs than pre-Covid.
Speaking at an ‘East Meets West’ debate on the restart of international tourism at World Travel Market 2021, Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) chief executive Liz Ortiguera (pictured) said countries in the region were focused on health and safety protocols to ensure they were ready for international tourists to return.
She said: “There’s been an incredible and very strong focus on health and safety. We are on the exciting brink of reopening. Some markets are ready to go, such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
“Multiple destinations have created safe destinations within their markets. In the last two weeks there have been a lot of border relaxations.”
But she predicted the reopening of borders in different countries across the region would be “very staged.”
With regards to China reopening to international tourists, she said: “We can anticipate that opening up in stages during the coming 12 months. The sleeping giant will be waking up soon.”
Sri Lanka and the Maldives attributed their quick reactions at the start of the pandemic for their faster recovery.
Kimarli Fernando, chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism, said: “We took immediate action. The moment we could apply for vaccines we went for it. Sri Lanka is now completely open [to tourists].”
In total, 71.2% of the population of Sri Lanka is now double vaccinated, she said. Vaccinated tourists can travel without quarantine to the country, with the only requirement being a pre-arrival PCR test.
Dr Abdulla Mausoom, minister of tourism for the Maldives, said tourism arrivals were already back to 2019 levels since the islands’ borders reopened on July 15.
“We opened our borders with clear-cut protocols. We ensured safety for tourists and for staff. Already we have reached one million visitors and now we are targeting 1.3 million. It’s been very positive growth. The Maldives are back,” he said.
But Alan Merschen, partner of international insights at marketing specialists Myriad, warned Pata destinations not to assume western tourists, particularly from the US, would flock back.
He said: “Americans are geo-challenged. There is Asia and it’s one big group [of countries] and for the most part these people are not travelling. Asia has been out of sight and out of mind.”
He added: “One of my concerns has been that a lot of destinations have been marketing and almost expecting everyone will come back and that will not happen.
“They have been doing a lot of domestic travel. It will take a while for people to come back. Americans will have interest but they will be reluctant.”
He urged destinations to “start marketing now and plant the seed” for travel for US and European travellers. “Or it will be 2023 before we see movement back in,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ortiguera added that post-pandemic tourists also had different needs than in 2019, with wellness tourism now more popular as well as a desire for “slower travel” trips of longer durations in less congested and rural locations.