Tourist arrivals SEA 2022, by country

In 2022, Thailand had the highest number of tourists among Southeast Asian countries, with approximately 11 million tourist arrivals. Comparatively, Brunei had about 36 thousand tourist arrivals in the same year.

Impact of Covid-19 on tourist arrivals in the ASEAN region

A notable decline in tourism in Southeast Asia was observed in 2021 as compared to 2022. While tourist arrivals in the ASEAN region exhibited a consistent upward trajectory over the last decade, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and concomitant travel restrictions impacted the industry greatly. Tourist hotspots, such as Thailand, have observed a substantial decline in the number of international tourists in Thailand, most significantly Chinese and European tourists.

GDP contributions of tourism

Tourism is an important contributor to the economies of several countries in the ASEAN region. The tourism sector's contributions in Indonesia decreased in 2020 compared to 2019. Indonesia implemented a policy to restrict international tourism at the start of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this restriction remained in place until the start of 2022. In Thailand, the GDP share of the tourism sector is expected to increase steadily from 2023 to 2028.