Second Covid wave will wipe out tourism sector, warns TCT chief
The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) estimates that a second Covid-19 outbreak would leave half of the workers in tourism or 2 million people jobless because businesses don’t have enough cash to continue paying salaries.
A study on the confidence index of businesses in the tourism sector, conducted by TCT and Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya, learned that business confidence in the last quarter of 2020 stood at 62 points, equal to the same quarter in 2019.
The study found that 1.04 million workers had lost their jobs over 2020. Also, an additional 10 per cent of businesses in the tourism sector closed temporarily in the last quarter, up from 3 per cent in the third quarter. The number of businesses that closed permanently stayed at 3 per cent.
The survey also showed that 50 per cent of tourism businesses decided to reduce their staff by around 30 to 40 per cent in the last quarter of 2020.
TCT chairman Chamnan Srisawat said his organisation has urged Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn to set up a Tourism Labour Bank by March to help those who have lost their jobs. He also called on the government to issue soft loans for businesses in the tourism sector.