Holiday season travel expected to drop by 5 million trips due to recent Covid-19 cases

The President of the Phuket Hotels Association has described another potential lockdown as a nail in the coffin for tourism in the province. Speaking to the Bangkok Post, Anthony Lark says a nationwide lockdown, or restrictions on domestic travel, would finish off many tourism-related businesses.

“Everyone’s losing money and just trying to break even. If the government can’t control the virus, and any domestic air travel or inter-provincial travel restrictions are introduced, then you will absolutely see hotel, restaurant and boat owners mothball their businesses.”

Phuket and other popular destinations had been hoping for a slight reprieve over the upcoming holiday period, with the tourism businesses that have made it this far expecting a much-needed uptake in revenue. However, the latest outbreak in the central province of Samut Sakhon may have put paid to that. With cases now…