Thailand and Indonesia are very popular with the Swiss

With the devastating tsunami of December 26, twenty years ago, the tourism sector in Southeast Asia, very popular with the Swiss, experienced a significant decline. Today, countries like Thailand are once again among the top destinations, including for Christmas.

“After 2004, tourism in Thailand initially experienced a significant decline. During the Christmas period 2005/2006, demand from our customers was significantly lower than in previous years,” Hotelplan spokesperson Muriel Wolf Landau told the Keystone-ATS news agency.

In the following years, the demand for holidays in Thailand increased again. As tourism is a pillar of the Thai economy, the return of international guests has been of great importance not only to the regions concerned, but to the entire country. It helps guarantee jobs and stabilize the local economy.

“Today, Thailand is one of the five most popular destinations for seaside and city holidays during the end-of-year holidays,” continues the spokesperson. In the field of individual travel, Thailand even occupies first place.

Indonesia is not such a popular holiday destination. This is mainly due to the climate, with many islands experiencing the rainy season at this time.

Southeast Asia is currently also experiencing strong demand from tour operator Tui’s agencies. For the current winter season, Thailand even reached a record level with an increase of 15%, a spokesperson told Keystone-ATS. Regarding Indonesia, demand is at last year’s level.

Better-off tourist regions

Overall, tourism has recovered quickly following the region’s largest natural disaster in living memory. On the tourist beaches of Phuket, for example, there was practically nothing left to remind us of the devastation just two years after the disaster. Less prosperous regions, however, recovered more slowly.

In the first four months of 2006, just one year after the devastating disaster, tourism demand for South Asia increased by 21 percent, according to the World Tourism Organization. In Thailand, Bangkok airport recorded almost 30% more tourists during this first season after the tsunami. Swiss tour operators Kuoni and Hotelplan were already recording record bookings for Thailand and the Maldives at the time.

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