3000 hotels in Phuket, Thailand are closed. How much influence does COVID-19 have on tourism?

In 2020, COVID-19 swept the world, and people all over the world were shrouded in the haze of the epidemic. Global tourism has been hit by public health events more than once. SARS, Zika, Ebola, and bird flu have all had a great impact on the tourism industry in tourist countries and even the world, and the theory of tourism coping with the crisis has been gradually enriched and improved. The PHEIC early warning mechanism put forward by the World Health Organization (WHO) after the SARS incident has been launched six times in the past fifteen years, including the COVID-19 epidemic. Thailand failed to stay out of it. In order to fight the epidemic, Thailand took severe measures, but it had a huge impact on the economy. The latest news is that 3000 hotels in Phuket, Thailand are closed. Let's look at the impact of COVID-19 on tourism.

Tourism professionals in Phuket, Thailand, sit in an empty bar and play with their mobile phones. These bars are lined with silent streets. This famous tourist and holiday island suffered from the cold in the COVID-19 epidemic, and there was almost no sign of rapid recovery in June 5438 +2020 10. Last year, more than 9 million tourists from home and abroad poured into Phuket, which is the second most popular destination in Thailand after the capital Bangkok. The impact of the epidemic is now almost an inaccessible empty island. A local tycoon owns five nightclubs and about 600 hotel rooms. He said that now 3,000 hotels on the island are basically closed, and the main town of Badong has become one? Ghost town? . Hotel swimming pools are empty everywhere, chairs are piled high in abandoned restaurants, the crowded beaches are very quiet at ordinary times, and even rare turtles can be seen nesting ashore. In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic, Thailand closed its borders. Although the epidemic situation in Thailand is not very serious at present, severe measures have been taken, which has caused a huge impact on tourism. 80% of Phuket's profits come from tourism, and the closure of 3,000 hotels directly affects the livelihood of more than 300,000 employees. At present, tens of thousands of unemployed people have returned to their hometowns. Life is especially hard for those who persist to the end. Some people accepted a big pay cut, while others had no choice but to join the long queue in the food distribution center or earn a meager income where they could.

Under the epidemic situation, tourism in Phuket has suffered huge losses, and it is expected that it will be difficult to return to normal level in a short time. As an important income industry in Thailand, tourism has a direct impact on the country's economic development, which is undoubtedly worse.