Asia looks to high vaccine rate for tourism recovery

As Asian countries consider gradually reopening their borders, vaccination rates are proving critical in determining the planned policy moves aimed at reviving tourism and shoring up the broader economy, experts say.

"The role of vaccination in regional reopening is critical," said Jameson Wong, vice-president of strategic clients and partnership for the Asia-Pacific region with the travel data and analytics company ForwardKeys. "Vaccination would remain one key consideration for governments around the region in strategizing reopening such that public safety continues to be protected and healthcare systems (are) not overwhelmed," Wong said.

Mass inoculations have proved effective in reducing the number of severe cases, admissions to hospital and deaths from COVID-19 in recent weeks, Wong said.

Speaking at a ceremony on Thursday to mark the arrival of a new batch of 2 million doses of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine donated by China, Yok Sambath, secretary of state of Cambodia's health ministry, said the kingdom, thanks to its high vaccination coverage, is preparing to reopen its borders to fully vaccinated foreign tourists by the end of this year, Xinhua News Agency cited the official as saying.

Cambodia had administered at least one dose to nearly 85 percent of its 16 million citizens, according to government figures published on Thursday. As many as 12.3 million, or 76.8 percent of the population, had been fully vaccinated with both required shots.

Cambodia has the second-highest inoculation rate among member states in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, after Singapore.

Li Ailan, the World Health Organization's representative in Cambodia, has said the country's high vaccination coverage provides a good basis for reopening the economy and society safely and responsibly.

Wong said: "Every country has its own pace of vaccination."

The number of shots being administered was gaining momentum, he said. "Consequently, we also see countries announcing reopening plans at (their) own pace."

For example, after announcing a 120-day reopening goal in June, Thailand's daily vaccination number rose from about 80,000 doses in May to more than 700,000 shots in October, the Bangkok Post reported, citing Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Prayut said last Monday that his government will allow fully vaccinated visitors from low-risk countries to enter Thailand without quarantine from Nov 1.

In Indonesia, the island of Bali reopened to foreign tourists on Thursday after 99 percent of Balinese had received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccines and 80 percent had received the second dose.

Welcoming visitors

Vietnam is expected to welcome tourists to the island of Phu Quoc next month.

Japan has cut its quarantine period for fully vaccinated travelers, while South Korea and Singapore have agreed to introduce a travel channel for the fully vaccinated on Nov 15. For such travelers there would be no mandatory quarantine for those traveling between the two countries.

ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea, the so-called ASEAN Plus Three, have lost an estimated $1.4 trillion in income last year and displacing around one in five travel and tourism jobs, according to an analytical note published by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, or AMRO, in Singapore last Monday.

But progress in COVID-19 vaccinations, with six of the region's 14 member economies having fully vaccinated more than 50 percent of their populations, augurs well for a gradual recovery of travel and tourism activities in the region, AMRO said.

Christopher Khoo, managing director of the international tourism consultancy MasterConsult Services, said cruise tourism has an advantage because it can provide a controlled environment that can increase people's confidence. "In a sense it gives people a sense of assurance that they can travel safely."