After two pandemic years, a summer travel bounce — and chaos

JERUSALEM — At a tourism conference in Phuket last month, Thailand’s prime minister looked out at attendees and posed a question with a predictable answer. “Everything seems so bad all around the world, so it’s nice to see some things coming back.” “The road to a full recovery is very long, but at least we are back on it,” said Sanga Ruangwattanakul, president of the Khao San Road Business Association in Bangkok. “When we reopened,” he said, “it never slowed down.” In Italy, tourists — especially from the United States — returned this year in droves. “We were expecting really more people to come at least this month, like May, June, but still it’s very slow,” said Wisam Salsaa, manager of The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, the storied ancient city where President Joe Biden is expected to visit in July during a trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia. “Tourism here,” Salsaa said, “is very fragile.” ___ The following Associated Press journalists contributed to this story: Barbara Surk in Nice, France; Joey Capelletti in Chicago, Sopheng Cheang in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Mike Corder in Amsterdam, Fanuel Morelli in Rome, Ciaran Giles in Madrid, Ashwini Bhatia in Dharmsala, India, Jim Salter in St. Louis, Mark Stevenson and Maria Verza in Mexico City and Tassanee Vejpongsa in Bangkok.