Coronavirus: Omicron variant delays Asian leisure travel’s return until … well, when? Let’s hope 2022 sees us taking overseas holidays again
- The emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus has caused a tightening of travel restrictions in parts of Asia and delayed the resumption of leisure travel
- Weekend getaways and spontaneous travel remain a distant prospect. Sure, our carbon footprints have shrunk, but here’s hoping for holidays abroad in 2022
Much remains unknown about the Omicron variant of Covid-19, but one thing is certain: it has disrupted many a travel plan this festive season, from Hong Kong to the United States, causing entry restrictions to be tightened and thousands of flights to be cancelled.
Its emergence also suggests that the pandemic will quite spectacularly outstay its welcome.
The spread of the latest coronavirus variant of concern has highlighted vaccine inequality between the global north and south, and put into sharp focus the many and muddled approaches adopted by destinations around the world to keep Covid-19 out or live with it.
It seems more and more likely that those in Hong Kong who have put off visiting friends and family overseas in the hope that next year quarantine requirements for arriving passengers will be lifted, or at least lightened, will be disappointed.
That raises a question: will Hongkongers – or anyone else in Asia, for that matter – ever be able to holiday abroad again? Well, yes, probably. The real question is when?
Pre-Omicron, international travel had started to resume without too many restrictions in Europe and the United States, and there were signs that a tourism recovery was taking root closer to home.
A couple of days later came the news no-one wanted – Omicron had raised its ugly head. Thailand, which had been, for a few weeks, one of the easiest places in Asia to enter, reinstated a mandatory hotel quarantine for foreign visitors arriving everywhere apart from Phuket, where the “sandbox” model persists.
All of which means that spontaneous and leisure travel around the region remains off the cards for the foreseeable future. There’ll still be no leaving the office on Friday for a quick weekend away in Chiang Mai or Hanoi. RIP microbreaks.
Naturally, public health is more important than the travel trends once beloved by millennials, and perhaps some among us took overseas adventures for granted before the pandemic put a stop to them. Our carbon footprints have no doubt improved, too.
However, tourism is about more than just the traveller; it encompasses an industry that has been vital to both established and growing economies across Asia.
Here’s hoping that Omicron is Covid-19’s last hurrah, that it will be overcome speedily and that we’ll be able to holiday abroad in 2022.
Japan to lay out welcome mat for super rich
Japan appears to be betting on rich foreigners to drive a recovery of its tourism industry, with the Kyodo news agency reporting recently: “The government plans to simplify the immigration procedures for foreign travellers arriving in Japan by luxury transport such as private jets and superyachts usually used by the wealthy.”
“The government hopes such affluent travellers will bring considerable spending power and help accelerate a post-pandemic economic recovery,” its report continued.
Those of us without the deepest of pockets will just have to wait our turn, Destinations Known presumes.
Who needs foreign trips when you’ve got Mao statues?
Whether Chinese tourists will travel internationally next year remains to be seen, but if Chinese state-run media is to be believed, many are perfectly satisfied with the attractions on offer at home, such as those in Shaoshan, Hunan province.
“Despite the heavy snow that swept the central and southern half of China during the past weekend, tens of thousands of travellers battled through to arrive on Sunday at the Mao Zedong bronze statue square in Shaoshan, the late leader’s hometown, to commemorate the 128th anniversary of his birth,” the Global Times reported.
While admitting that “fewer people visited Mao’s hometown on his birthday [December 26] this year compared to previous years due to the bitter cold and the Covid-19 resurgence in different parts of the country”, the newspaper reported that “Shaoshan still attracted many visitors”.
