Malaysia, since its border reopening on April 1, has managed to attract over a million foreign tourists, thrice higher than Vietnam and leading Southeast Asia post-pandemic.
Within two months, Malaysia has fulfilled over half of the full year target set by the government, according to New Straits Times, Malaysia's oldest English-language newspaper.
"A large part of the total was from Singapore and it is expected many more tourists from Japan, Iran and Korea will be arriving in Malaysia," Nancy Shukri, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, told a media conference.
Vietnam welcomed roughly 300,000 international visitors since its full border reopening on March 15. Of this, 172,900 came in May, a 70.6% rise over April and 12.8 times higher than the same month last year, General Statistics Office reported.
As Covid-19 has been put under control, international routes began to recover swiftly, and Vietnamese airlines have resumed international flights on a regular basis, with plans to increase frequency.
Malaysia welcomed overseas visitors half a month later than Vietnam. It has offered a tourist-friendly Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP), which were capable of attracting more foreign tourists to Malaysia, according to Shukri.
"People like our SOP because there's no mandatory quarantines, Covid-19 screening tests and insurance, and it's up to tourists to do so," the minister added.
Vietnam lifted health declaration requirements on April 27 and dropped its Covid-19 testing requirement for people entering the country on May 15. The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism is proposing to lift mandatory health insurance for Covid-19 treatment and travel insurance requirements for foreign arrivals.
A total 294,300 people visited Singapore last month, according to Singapore Tourism Board. The island state has scrapped most of its Covid-19 restrictions since April 26.
The Philippines had admitted more than 500,000 foreign visitors since reopening its borders in February, official data shows.
From January 1 to June 6, the foreign arrivals in Thailand reached 1.4 million, Thailand Tourism Authority reported. The country plans to end mandatory pre-travel registration for foreigners, so-called “Thailand Pass”, at a meeting on June 17, according to Bloomberg.