Thailand Ministry of Health reports 12,888 new COVID-19 cases and an additional 126 deaths since yesterday. The ministry also announced an additional 17,105 patients recovered from the COVID-19 virus.
Southeast Asia is gradually shaking off the shackles of Covid-19 and reopening for travel, with airlines filling a growing number of seats as holiday-starved masses plan their first international vacation in two years.
While the region lags behind other parts of the world, such as North America and Europe, which reopened sooner, the increasing trend picked up speed in April. Ticket sales are on the rise as major tourist destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia reintroduce quarantine-free entrance for vaccinated visitors.
According to data compiled by analysts at Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, Google searches for travel to Singapore have increased, particularly from Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Australia. Since the last week of March, the number of searches has increased by nearly 20%.
According to the country’s civil aviation authority, air passenger traffic to Singapore surpassed 400,000, or 31% more than pre-Covid levels, in the week ending April 17 after most travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people were relaxed at the beginning of the month.
According to the tourism ministry in Thailand, where international tourism accounts for around 15% of the country’s GDP, the number of foreign visitors increased by 38% in March compared to February following the relaxation of testing and health insurance requirements. Thailand relaxed entrance requirements for vaccinated travellers on April 1 and aims to replace required polymerase chain reaction testing for foreign visitors with antigen tests on May 1.
According to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration, the number of tourists to Thailand increased by 358,364 from April 1 to April 27. (CCSA). Singaporeans were the most numerous, followed by visitors from the United Kingdom, and India.