Collapse of tourism costs Asian countries 1.6 million jobs | Business and Economy

Almost one-third of job losses in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei and Mongolia was in tourism, report says

Hwaseong, South Korea – The collapse of tourism due to the pandemic wiped out 1.6 million jobs in five Asian countries alone last year, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei and Mongolia saw almost one-third of all job losses occur in the tourism sector, according to a report released by the United Nations agency on Thursday.

Tourism-related job losses were four times greater than losses in other industries, according to the report, with women especially hard hit.

Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, ILO regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said the impact of COVID-19 on tourism in the region had been “nothing short of catastrophic”.

“Even with countries in the region focusing heavily on vaccinations and…