A new virus epidemic among seafood factory staff near Bangkok couldn’t come at a worse time as Phuket and other Thai tourism attractions brace for a small bump in business from the countdown to 2021. In Samut Sakhon province last week, Thailand discovered a record cluster of pathogens, sparking a 14-day lockdown of the industrial region. The state is debating …

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) reports that it is in the midst of formulating a plan to reopen the borders of the country to delegations from neighboring countries who are coming for business events. The plan includes delegations from Singapore meeting in Desaru, Johor, Thai delegates in Langkawi, and officials from Brunei in Sabah and Sarawak …

The Department of Tourism is seeking to establish travel coupons that would subsidize the cost of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab tests for visitors in an attempt to make travel more accessible. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a television interview with the ANC that the DOT aims to join up with the University of the Philippines-Philippine General …

Edhy Prabowo, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, is deeply committed to breathing new life into the tourism sector in Nias Pesisir, North Sumatra, by lending, among other things, funding to the implementation of the Video Tourism Contest. They praise Nias Pesisir, who arranged the VTC series. In the post-pandemic era, the contest will become a promotional event and simultaneously …

The government has vowed to boost its attempts to rehabilitate the tourism sector in Phuket, which has been hammered on both its short-term and long-term targets by the pandemic. His advisory committee, headed by Thosaporn Sirisamphand, former secretary general of the National Economic and Social Development Council, has already been instructed by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to finalize the recommendations …

The Bank of Thailand leader, a growing under-employment rate led by the Covid-19 crisis would further aggravate the country’s swelling household debt and the debt-servicing woes of borrowers. Although the coronavirus outbreak has not significantly impacted the unemployment rate, the pandemic has caused an increase in underemployment due to a decrease in working hours, said Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, due to …

MANILA – Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat announced yesterday that all hotels under areas classified as general community quarantine and modified GCQ may now be allowed to operate at a full capacity. Puyat said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has authorized the Department of Tourism (DOT) to make the decision on whether allowing operational …

Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, the entire batch of tourists coming to Thailand via the special tourist visa (STV) in the first step must be 100 percent free of the coronavirus or the reopening plan will be scrapped indefinitely. He started that if in October and November the system sees no infections for the first groups, concerns …

The cabinet agreed to encourage the flagging economy to be boosted by international visitors who commit to 14-day quarantine and stay for at least 90 days. After the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government would grant special long-stay visas for tourists. The most notable requirement will be a quarantine lasting 14 days. Visitors can arrive for tourism …

Limitations on Covid-19 have been progressively relaxed to the point that people’s lives slowly return to normal. All schools, shopping centres, convenience shops, pubs and bars as well as soapy massage parlours can now be opened to boost the economy. Now a panel under the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) is seeing more loosening by allowing normal-sized schools, crowds …