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In 2023, the travel and tourism industry contributed approximately *** billion U.S. dollars to the GDP in Southeast Asia. Comparatively, this value was about billion U.S. dollars in 2019. GDP contributions from this industry in Southeast Asia saw consistent increases throughout the past decade until they halved in 2020 due to the global pandemic.

Tourism in Southeast Asia is recovering

The number of tourists in Southeast Asia increased significantly in the last decade. While the COVID-19 pandemic affected the tourism sector heavily, the Southeast Asian region is recovering the fastest from international tourist arrivals to the Asia-Pacific region. Southeast Asia was also the Asian subregion with a high year-on-year change in the monthly number of international tourist arrivals, especially from January to March.

Importance of the tourism industry in Southeast Asia

As tourism in Southeast Asia contributes highly to the GDP, many countries are dependent on tourism to stimulate their newly emerging economies. In addition to the monetary value, the tourism industry contributes significantly to employment in Southeast Asian countries. Indonesia falls into the top five leading countries with the highest total contribution of travel and tourism to employment worldwide. To maintain and even encourage the growth of the tourism sector, both regarding domestic and international tourists, many Southeast Asian countries are initiating programs such as easier visa attainment and the establishment of low-cost airlines to stimulate the tourism industry.