Travelfish newsletter Issue 383 : The Never Never Land of Post–CovID19 tourism
Hi everyone,
While I’m trying to avoid writing (or thinking for that matter) about COVID19, this week I have a piece on some of my concerns regarding what is holding the region back, and why calls for restarting tourism, at least in Southeast Asia, are well premature.
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Old meets new in Tak. Photo: David Luekens
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Curious where I am up to on the newsletter? I’m just left Tak (where the photos in this newsletter were taken) today and am on the way to Sukhothai. One of this week’s two free reads was why you should always get out of the boat.
Cheers and thank you for your support,
Stuart
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The Never Never Land of Post–CovID19 tourism
Depending on where you live, you’ve most likely been under some state of quarantine for a month or so. Quarantine comes in different flavours, from “lockdown absolut” to “please wear a mask”. The result though is the same, your behaviour is modified by something you have no control over.
Travel, for obvious reasons, has been hard hit. A vast number of international flights cancelled. Hotels closed by the thousands. Visa issuances stopped. Land and sea borders locked down.
Millions have lost their livelihoods. Millions more have lost the privilege of being able to jump on a plane, often on a whim, and go travelling.
It was only a scant few months ago that the press was awash with stories on “overtourism”. Oh how things have changed.
A few months ago, Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport would record a takeoff or landing almost every five minutes. On 13 April, it did not record a single international take off or landing. Not one.
Yet already demands for re-opening tourism are growing. The industry, particularly hotels and airlines, are haemorrhaging money. In places bereft of a multitude of cases, the frustration, to a point, is understandable.
But I say these calls are well premature. As I wrote a few weeks ago, as painful as it may be, the travel industry—and travellers—need to bed down for a long nap.
Look no further for an example than Singapore. For months it was seen as a success case in managing CovID19. On March 20, Singapore had 385 confirmed cases. Fast forward a month to April 20 (today) and it has 8,014—an increase of over 2,000%.
Much of this extraordinary growth has been out of Singapore’s migrant labour population. Yes, these people have long lived in terrible, and worked under exploitative, conditions. But this explosion took place in a well locked down environment.
Look then to destinations like Burma and Laos, who have both reported precious few cases. This despite them having borders with China and large pools of Chinese labour in–country. Or Indonesia—a vast archipelago which is yet to lockdown in any nationwide manner. Meanwhile its CovID19 numbers have, well, considerable credulity issues.
Vietnam is the one country in Southeast Asia, who seems to have a handle on matters. They acted harder, and harsher, than their neighbours. Tens of thousands landed in quarantine, and borders and flights stopped early. With 268 official cases as of today, it seems these measures have paid off.
My point is just four months ago, Southeast Asia was a vast, interconnected region. Today it is anything but. There has been no cohesive approach to mitigating the virus. Instead it is a haphazard glad bag of random approaches and random results.
How do you frame a return to travel in this environment? Some countries, Indonesia and Thailand for example, have been talking up opening tourism by June to July. That seems impossible (and irresponsible) when Indonesia still his no firm idea how many cases there are. Singapore’s rose by almost 1,500 today alone.
If you don’t take a serious look for the virus, you won’t find a serious volume of cases. When countries look, as Singapore has, it finds loads. How hard is Burma, Cambodia or Indonesia looking?
Only after countries have taken a serious and prolonged look for cases, will the time come for them to take a serious and prolonged look at how to restart tourism. The region is nowhere near this point.
Until this changes, stay at home.
Good (couch) travels
Stuart
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Ten things worth reading
Deserted Thai beaches lure rare turtles to build most nests in 20 years
“Thailand has found the largest number of nests of rare leatherback sea turtles in two decades on beaches bereft of tourists because of the coronavirus pandemic, environmentalists say.”
Favourite Asian adventures
Fodder for the ears for when travel eventually restarts.
From the field: COVID-19 responses in Central Java
A fascinating read on how CovID19 is being tackled at a local level in Central Java.
Singapore’s new covid-19 cases reveal the country’s two very different realities $
“While immigrants on work visas for white-collar jobs have rights to family reunification and paths to eventual long-term residency and citizenship, low-wage work permit holders have no such options.”
The best rain in literature
Nothing to do with travel, but I loved this piece on rain.
“In a war, we draw”: Vietnam's artists join fight against Covid-19
“Such messaging, along with early action and contact tracing helped the nation avoid the levels of suffering seen in Europe and keep cases to mere hundreds. ”
China limited the Mekong’s flow. Other countries suffered a drought. $
Excellent reporting on the state of the Mekong River. Grab a coffee and take your time with this one.
Five animal shelter charities that need your help
“Asia’s hard-working animal sanctuaries face an uphill battle at the best of times, but with the Covid-19 pandemic bringing an unprecedented drop in visitors, their future has never looked more precarious.”
Indonesian spices in an overpowering broth from Medieval Italy
Rediscovering cooking? Here is a challenge.
A Saigon studio made “C?m T?m” out of discarded styrofoam and sponges
Something to read
The Rainbow Troops
“Andrea Hirata’s The Rainbow Troops, originally published in Indonesian in 2005, is a delightful and poignant coming-of-age tale set in rural Indonesia.”
Travel shot
Sleepy and charming Tak. Photo: David Luekens
Till next time
That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia.
Travel light!
Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team
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