Backpackers’ return brings glimmer of hope for Thailand tourism revival

theguardian.com:

After months of absence, Chiang Mai’s waterfalls, night markets and hostels are once again filling up with a familiar sight: backpackers.

While Thailand was once a haven for budget travellers, Covid-19 devastated the tourism industry, which is only now starting to take tentative steps towards reopening.

People familiar with Chiang Mai at its tourism peak will still find the city relatively quiet, but those in the travel industry are seeing glimmers of hope after two years of despair.

“We can see the number slowly increase,” said Palakorn Viriya, owner of Deejai Backpackers hostel. Speaking to the Guardian from the hostel lobby, he described the previous two years as a “struggle”.

Palakorn said before Covid, he usually had 40-60 guests every night, but now he gets about 10 each night. Still, this is a marked improvement from 2020 and 2021.

“The last customer left the hostel in July 2020 and then there was nothing until November 2021,” when Thailand eased entry restrictions for vaccinated visitors, he said.

Palakorn says he was lucky because he owns the property outright but estimates as many as 80% of his competitors were forced to close down, mostly because they couldn’t afford rent with no customers.

“Now the customer is more than last year but still not really that much if compared before Covid,” said a Thai tour guide and driver who goes by the English name Vincent.

Vincent said before Covid hit, he had customers every single day, but now he only has customers two or three times a week, and many are still domestic travellers. During peak Covid waves, he had no customers at all and was forced to go back to working at his family’s rice mill.

According to data from the country’s tourism ministry, nearly 204,000 tourists arrived