# Tourism recovery — Southeast Asia arrivals scoreboard

International **visitor arrivals (millions)** across ASEAN-10, with Timor-Leste as a documented empty cell. Figures come from verified Asia Knowledge CSVs (**ASEAN Key Figures 2024**, 2023 vintage). **Tourism receipts (USD) are not seeded** — see `topics/tourism_recovery/gaps.md`. **No invented numbers.**

Compiled 6 September 2026 · scoreboard: `topics/tourism_recovery/arrivals_scoreboard.csv`

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## Takeaways

1. **Thailand and Malaysia lead 2023 arrivals.** Thailand **28.15 mn** (~27.6% of the ASEAN-10 seeded sum) and Malaysia **20.14 mn** (~19.8%) sit well clear of the next tier [1].
2. **Next tier is Singapore / Vietnam / Indonesia:** Singapore **13.61**, Vietnam **12.6**, Indonesia **11.68** — together a second band of double-digit million arrivals [1].
3. **Cambodia and the Philippines are mid-pack peers at 5.45 mn each** in the seed; KF narrative shares are about **5.4% / 5.3%** of ASEAN — do not over-interpret hundredths [1].
4. **Soft spots by volume:** Myanmar **3.42**, Laos **1.29**, Brunei **0.13**. Timor-Leste has **no AMS Key Figures cell** [1][2].
5. **Recovery context (regional, not country-invented):** KF2024 reports ASEAN total visitors **101.9 mn in 2023** vs **143.6 mn in 2019** — still below the pre-pandemic peak [1]. Country receipts USD are **intentionally blank** (WDI series stale; Outlook incomplete) [2].

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## Side-by-side scoreboard

| Country | Visitor arrivals (mn) | Year | Notes |
|---------|----------------------:|------|-------|
| Thailand | **28.15** | 2023 | Largest AMS volume |
| Malaysia | **20.14** | 2023 | Second |
| Singapore | **13.61** | 2023 | |
| Vietnam | **12.6** | 2023 | |
| Indonesia | **11.68** | 2023 | |
| Cambodia | **5.45** | 2023 | Tied seed with PHL |
| Philippines | **5.45** | 2023 | Tied seed with KHM |
| Myanmar | **3.42** | 2023 | |
| Laos | **1.29** | 2023 | |
| Brunei | **0.13** | 2023 | Lowest AMS volume |
| Timor-Leste | — | — | Not in ASEAN AMS Key Figures |

Sorted descending by arrivals where seeded. ASEAN-10 sum of seeded rows = **101.92 mn** (matches KF **101.9** rounded). Full precision / source URL in `topics/tourism_recovery/arrivals_scoreboard.csv`.

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## Receipts — why the column is empty

| Check | Result |
|-------|--------|
| WDI `ST.INT.RCPT.CD` | Latest usable country years mostly **2018–2020** — pandemic-era, not a 2023–24 recovery scoreboard |
| ASEAN Tourism Outlook (draft extract) | Regional 2024 receipts **USD 132 bn**; partial earners only; **LAO/MMR unavailable**; TLS absent |
| Library rule | Do **not** invent country USD receipts or recycle identical multi-country claims |

Detail: `topics/tourism_recovery/gaps.md`.

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## How to read without getting fooled

- Prefer **arrivals (mn)** from ASEANstats KF for cross-AMS volume; do **not** invent US$ receipts.
- **Empty ≠ zero:** TLS blank and receipts blanks are documented gaps.
- **2019 vs 2023** regional totals are recovery context — do not impute country 2019 series unless seeded.
- Do not average arrivals across countries with missing cells (TLS).
- Cambodia ≈ Philippines at **5.45** in seed — treat as peer band, not a precision ranking.

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## Sources

[1] ASEAN Key Figures 2024 — visitor arrivals by AMS (2023) — https://www.aseanstats.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AKF2024v2.pdf · also https://www.aseanstats.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AKF2024.v1.pdf · Asia Knowledge `data/growth_engines/indicators.csv` (`visitor_arrivals_mn`)

[2] Gaps file — `topics/tourism_recovery/gaps.md` (WDI `ST.INT.RCPT.CD` API check 2026-09-06; ASEAN Tourism Outlook extract noted as incomplete)

**Data files:** `topics/tourism_recovery/` · **Designer brief:** `SPEC_Tourism_Recovery_SEA.md` · Notion rows in `topics/tourism_recovery/notion_rows.json`.