HCMC among slowest-recovering tourist cities in Asia-Pacific region

The number of foreign visitors to Ho Chi Minh City this year is forecast to see a drop of 69% against 2019, the year before the pandemic outbreaks, according to a report released by Spain-based travel data & analytics company ForwardKeys.

Tokyo witnessed the region’s slowest recovery for the year at an estimated 83% drop, followed by Seoul (78%), Bangkok (75%), Denpasar (74%), Kuala Lumpur (73%) and Phuket (72%).

Singapore shared HCMC’s 69% drop estimate.

Lahore in Pakistan looks set to lead the region in international tourism recovery, witnessing a 4% increase in visitor arrivals against 2019.

ForwardKeys analyzed the level of tourism recovery of 17 cities in the Asia-Pacific region based on its air tickets data.

Only destination cities with more than 0.235% of global international arrivals are listed.

Tourist arrivals were counted based on return ticket holders staying for at least one night at the destination.

HCMC expects to receive 3.5 million foreign tourists this year.

In 2019, it had welcomed 10 million foreign visitors.