It’s a sunny day on Bangkok’s most famous tourist street, and shopkeeper Cletana Thangworachai is open for business.
Her Khao San Road shop is crowded with shiny magnets, brightly colored elephant key rings and the patterned cotton pants that have become an unofficial uniform for backpackers in Southeast Asia.
But for now, there’s no one to buy them.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on travel, with the UN World Tourism Organization estimating that international tourism could decline by up to 80% this year over 2019, putting at least 100 million jobs at risk.
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In Thailand, where tourism makes up 18% of the country’s GDP, the Tourism Authority expects visitor numbers could be down 65% this year.
Many, like Cletana, are struggling to make ends meet. Before Covid-19, she could make $300 a day. In April, Thailand banned all international flights into the country, and now, her daily earnings are down to $2 — sometimes even zero.
But the 45-year-old, who has been selling souvenirs on the street for more than a decade, still opens her shop each day, hoping that she may get lucky with a rare passing tourist.
With so much at stake for livelihoods and economies, countries around the world are looking at ways to keep tourism businesses afloat.
New Zealand and Australia have committed to creating a “travel bubble” allowing visits between the two countries — once it’s safe to do so. China has begun allowing domestic travel, although its borders are still shut to most foreigners. Thailand is considering special tourism resorts that double as quarantine zones.
But experts warn that even with new initiatives, it could take years for travel to rise to pre-Covid-19 levels. And even when it happens, we might never travel in the same way again.
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