Manufacturing, tourism situation in Southeast Asia improves as pandemic eases
Manufacturing activity in and tourism bookings to Southeast Asia both improved since the beginning of the year, two separate sets of data show.
Thailand’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a record in February, while the Philippines rebounded to its highest in three years, according to business information provider IHS Markit. Vietnam and Malaysia also improved, the index shows.
Indonesia saw the biggest slump among its neighbours due to a resurgence in Covid-19 infections, but its purchasing managers’ index remained above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction, IHS Markit said.
“Manufacturing conditions in ASEAN improved strongly in February, with the PMI remaining among the highest on record as output rose solidly again amid the fastest upturn in new work since last October,” said IHS Markit economist Lewis Cooper.
War in Ukraine remains biggest risk factor
However, he added that the war in Ukraine carries a strong risk of dampening growth and adds fresh fuel to inflation with crude oil prices hitting multi-year highs. Given this developments, the Southeast Asian region should be bracing for potential fallout from the invasion of Ukraine and tighter sanctions on Russia.
Meanwhile, international bookings for flights to Southeast Asian countries that are relaxing their tight Covid-19 pandemic-related border controls rose sharply in January, data from online travel company Skyscanner shows.
The recovery comes on a low base, though. International passenger travel in the Asia-Pacific region was down 93 per cent from pre-pandemic levels last year, leaving airlines heavily reliant on freight for revenue, while the large Chinese outbound tourism market remains closed.
However, countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore are emerging from an Omicron-variant related pause and reopening to vaccinated travelers.
Strong bookings from UK, US, Germany
Return economy-class bookings to those destinations from the UK, US and Germany, among others, rose by between 19 per cent and 300 per cent in January relative to December, according to Skyscanner’s senior regional director Asia Pacific Paul Whiteway who spoke to Reuters.
“Over the coming weeks, we will see markets react to the news, airlines announcing new schedules and building capacity to allow the return of international travel at scale,” he said.
However, the recovery is expected to be dented by Russia’s war with Ukraine as regional tourism operators were counting on a rebound in visitors from both Russia and Ukraine. Before the pandemic, they were mainstays of the tourism sector particularly in Thailand’s Phuket and Pattaya and Vietnam’s coastal resort towns of Da Nang and Nha Trang.
Russians keep coming, but spending power drops
Russian arrivals ranked number one in Thailand during the first 22 days of the resumption of an easier entry programme in February 2022, with 13,063 Russian tourists arriving in the period, followed by 10,412 visitors from Germany and 8,900 from France.
So far, Russian commercial airlines including Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and S7 Airlines are still arriving on schedule in Thailand, but the outlook is dim as the spending power of Russians is evaporating. Since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion on February 24, the Russian ruble has dropped nearly 24 per cent against the Thai baht as of March 1 and at a similar extent against other regional currencies.
[caption id="attachment_38267" align="alignleft" width="300"] Vietnam is fully reopening to foreign travelers on March 15, 2022[/caption] Manufacturing activity in and tourism bookings to Southeast Asia both improved since the beginning of the year, two separate sets of data show. Thailand’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a record in February, while the Philippines rebounded to its highest in three years, according to business information provider IHS Markit. Vietnam and Malaysia also improved, the index shows. Indonesia saw the biggest slump among its neighbours due to a resurgence in Covid-19 infections, but its purchasing managers' index remained above the 50-mark that...
Manufacturing activity in and tourism bookings to Southeast Asia both improved since the beginning of the year, two separate sets of data show.
Thailand’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a record in February, while the Philippines rebounded to its highest in three years, according to business information provider IHS Markit. Vietnam and Malaysia also improved, the index shows.
Indonesia saw the biggest slump among its neighbours due to a resurgence in Covid-19 infections, but its purchasing managers’ index remained above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction, IHS Markit said.
“Manufacturing conditions in ASEAN improved strongly in February, with the PMI remaining among the highest on record as output rose solidly again amid the fastest upturn in new work since last October,” said IHS Markit economist Lewis Cooper.
War in Ukraine remains biggest risk factor
However, he added that the war in Ukraine carries a strong risk of dampening growth and adds fresh fuel to inflation with crude oil prices hitting multi-year highs. Given this developments, the Southeast Asian region should be bracing for potential fallout from the invasion of Ukraine and tighter sanctions on Russia.
Meanwhile, international bookings for flights to Southeast Asian countries that are relaxing their tight Covid-19 pandemic-related border controls rose sharply in January, data from online travel company Skyscanner shows.
The recovery comes on a low base, though. International passenger travel in the Asia-Pacific region was down 93 per cent from pre-pandemic levels last year, leaving airlines heavily reliant on freight for revenue, while the large Chinese outbound tourism market remains closed.
However, countries like Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore are emerging from an Omicron-variant related pause and reopening to vaccinated travelers.
Strong bookings from UK, US, Germany
Return economy-class bookings to those destinations from the UK, US and Germany, among others, rose by between 19 per cent and 300 per cent in January relative to December, according to Skyscanner’s senior regional director Asia Pacific Paul Whiteway who spoke to Reuters.
“Over the coming weeks, we will see markets react to the news, airlines announcing new schedules and building capacity to allow the return of international travel at scale,” he said.
However, the recovery is expected to be dented by Russia’s war with Ukraine as regional tourism operators were counting on a rebound in visitors from both Russia and Ukraine. Before the pandemic, they were mainstays of the tourism sector particularly in Thailand’s Phuket and Pattaya and Vietnam’s coastal resort towns of Da Nang and Nha Trang.
Russians keep coming, but spending power drops
Russian arrivals ranked number one in Thailand during the first 22 days of the resumption of an easier entry programme in February 2022, with 13,063 Russian tourists arriving in the period, followed by 10,412 visitors from Germany and 8,900 from France.
So far, Russian commercial airlines including Aeroflot, Ural Airlines and S7 Airlines are still arriving on schedule in Thailand, but the outlook is dim as the spending power of Russians is evaporating. Since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion on February 24, the Russian ruble has dropped nearly 24 per cent against the Thai baht as of March 1 and at a similar extent against other regional currencies.
