This article by Gobie Rajalingam of The Asia Foundation, published on 12 May 2021, looks at how COVID-19 affected small tourism businesses in Timor-Leste. It describes conditions in early 2021; the border restrictions it mentions have since ended.
Findings
- Impact: a survey of 342 micro, small and medium enterprises found that tourism businesses were operating at about 23% of their pre-COVID level. Almost half of the businesses that depended on international visitors had closed or cut back.
- Subsidies: awareness of the government’s mid-2020 support measures ranged from 20% to 65%. Only 7% of employers rated the social security subsidy as important; 35% of small businesses and 38% of tourism businesses said they most needed credit guarantees and short-term tax exemptions.
- Information: The Asia Foundation, with the New Zealand Embassy, set up the business information portal empreza.tl with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- Reopening: Decree-Law No. 24/2021, approved on 28 April 2021, removed compulsory quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers and set out a process for “travel bubbles”.
- Awareness: only 24% of potential travellers surveyed had seen any marketing about Timor-Leste. Coffee exports fell by more than 75% in 2020.
The author recommended targeted marketing, better-designed support for small businesses, accessible information for travellers, and more use of data to shape recovery policy.