“There aren’t non-stop flights between Europe and destinations like Bali and Cambodia,” Brendan Sobie, a Singapore-based independent aviation analyst, told U.S. magazine Fortune.
“These countries, which are heavily dependent on tourism, are also more impacted due to the trickle-down effect on their economies.”
In Thailand, the Ministry of Tourism fears a loss of 596,000 visitors and 40.9 billion baht (US$1.29 billion) in revenues if the conflict drags on for more than eight weeks.
Phangnga Province has already seen a sharp decline in European arrivals and estimates losses at nearly 1.7 billion baht ($52.3 million), according to its hotel association, Bangkok Post reported.
The conflict has severely disrupted airline operations, particularly flights from Europe that rely on connections through Gulf hubs such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha in Qatar.
It has also sent airfares on long-haul routes, especially Europe-bound flights, rising by nearly 100%, President of the Tourism Council of Thailand, Chai Arunanondchai, said as quoted by Nation Thailand.
In Indonesia, immigration officials on Bali said at least 40 flights to major Middle Eastern transit hubs had been canceled as of March 8, and at least 11,600 tourists could not reach the island.
The Cambodian Secretary of State for the Department of Civil Aviation, Sin Chansereyvutha, told Khmer Times: “Tourists coming to Cambodia are not all from the Middle East. The Middle East is a part of it.”
The 2026 Visit Malaysia Year campaign may miss its targets amid the tensions in the Middle East, according to Malaysian stockbroking company TA Securities.
It targeted 47 million international arrivals and RM329 billion in tourism receipts for the year.
The research house said while Middle Eastern visitors account for only about 0.4% of arrivals, disruptions in the region’s airspace and transit hubs could reduce arrivals from Europe and other long-haul, high-spending markets.
Vietnam’s tourism industry is facing fresh challenges as rising fuel prices push up airfares and operating costs.
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