Malaysia and Indonesia are leading the recovery of domestic travel demand in Southeast Asia, reaching 100 percent growth in March compared with the same level in 2019, an official of Google Asia Pacific has said.

Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur International Airport. (Photo: Malay Mail)

The Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam are quickly following the lead.

Google Asia Pacific travel lead Hermione Joye said travel growth in the region was attributed to the dropping of travel restriction orders, reopening of borders, as well as the easing of quarantine and testing restrictions.

Recovery has started to take place across Southeast Asia as the governments are easing restrictions to support travel demand, she said during a virtual media roundtable on the revival of travel in the region.

On the broader market, Google internal data showed that 40 percent of inbound tourism from the US and Canada went to the Philippines and Vietnam.

Indonesia’s Bali resort island was the fastest growing market in March 2022, while Thailand’s Bangkok ranked seventh.

Source: VNA