Tourism is important to Southeast Asia’s economy. (File pic)
BANGKOK: The hospitality industry in Southeast Asia is seeing a turnaround after governments began easing Covid-19 restrictions.
Operators of luxury hotels and theme parks have begun opening new facilities and making investments as travel and leisure demand bounces back.
The number of tourists has begun to top pre-pandemic levels, but the recovery could lead to worker shortages.
If companies have to raise wages to attract staff, earnings may suffer.
Thailand is seeing a boom luxury hotels.
Retailer Central Group plans to invest about 20 billion baht in its hotel business, including the upscale Centara brand, by 2026, raising the number of hotels it runs from around 90 to 200.
Revenue from Central’s hotel business has declined to 11.1 billion baht, or around half of the 2019 figure.
But with the number of guests returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, the company is looking to expand.
Likewise, US hotel chain Standard International opened The Standard in Bangkok in July, its second property under that brand in Thailand.
Occupancy is running at around 90%.
Another US chain, Marriott International, in 2023 will bring its top-tier brand, The Ritz-Carlton, to one of the Thai capital’s largest commercial complexes, One Bangkok.
In Jakarta, Hyatt Hotels opened a property under its top-end brand, Park Hyatt, in July in an upscale neighbourhood near the presidential palace.
The Park Hyatt Jakarta is Indonesia’s first six-star hotel and houses a large, upscale Japanese restaurant.
The hotel is off to a strong start, with the US chain saying rooms are fully booked for the New Year holidays.
Theme parks are also enjoying a bounce.
When Genting SkyWorlds opened near Kuala Lumpur in February, Malaysian media called it the most anticipated leisure facility in Southeast Asia.
Sony Pictures Entertainment opened Columbia Pictures Aquaverse in Thailand in October.
The US company says the theme park is attracting more visitors.
Tourism is important to Southeast Asia’s economy.
With travel demand quickly recovering, Vietnam’s national administration of tourism argues that impediments to the growth of the country’s domestic tourism have been eliminated.
Vietnam served about 96 million domestic tourists in the first 11 months of this year, surpassing the figure for 2019.
The country had stricter controls than its neighbours did during the pandemic, but relaxed them quickly.
The full-year domestic tourist number is expected to top 100 million.
Major Southeast Asian economies posted year-on-year GDP growth in the third quarter of 2022, helped by the tourism and food-service industries.
Nightclubs and discos in Singapore have reopened after a two-year shutdown.
Thanks to rising numbers of overseas tourists, popular clubs are crowded with revellers.
In Manila, Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings opened the Philippines’ first Japanese department store, Mitsukoshi BGC, in November.
More than 350 people gathered outside the store on opening day and it remains popular.
Life is returning to normal in Myanmar after the turmoil brought by the February 2021 military coup.
Many cafes and bars are opening in the country’s largest city, Yangon.
Shops where young people can gather and take selfies draw crowds.
The revival of the hospitality industry in Asia has not been without challenges, however, especially staff shortages.
Hotels and other hospitality businesses in Thailand and elsewhere cut jobs as the pandemic wiped out demand.
Wages in the industry tend to be low and hours are long.
If employers are forced to raise pay to attract workers, their earnings will fall short of expectations.
The working environment at hotels is relatively poor because there are no regular days off in Southeast Asia.
The average monthly wage for accommodation and food-service workers in Thailand was 11,236 baht in 2019, about 20% lower than the all-industry average of 14,230 baht.
Even so, employees considered the hospitality industry stable and the jobs they offered secure.
Then the pandemic hit.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also highlighted geopolitical risks to the industry.
People now see these jobs as unstable, and those who left the industry are not coming back.
The World Travel & Tourism Council estimates the recovery in travel demand will help create 126 million jobs globally over the next decade, with more than 60% of them in Asia-Pacific region.
China is forecast to see a surge in tourism following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.
Finding enough people to fill these open positions is therefore an urgent task.
As industries compete for employees, the hospitality sector needs to offer better conditions.
But higher personnel costs could weigh on earnings.
It remains to be seen whether the industry can make up for the losses it suffered during the pandemic.
