Several thousand Asian tourists are stuck all over Scandinavia and the rest of Europe and may be unable to return home after airspace closures over the Gulf disrupted key flight routes. Norwegian media reports many Asian tourists stuck in the city of Tromsø. Many of the affected travellers are in the region for the northern lights season and now face cancelled or delayed journeys back to Asia.
The situation mirrors the problems faced by Scandinavian travellers in Thailand in recent days. ScandAsia has reported that Nordic tourists have also been stranded in Thailand after flight cancellations, including Danish travellers whose return journey was delayed by the same regional conflict.
Thai authorities have since introduced temporary relief measures for foreign nationals affected by the disruptions. These include waived overstay fines for those unable to leave Thailand on time and the possibility of applying for a temporary stay extension of up to 30 days.
The travel chaos shows how the Middle East conflict is affecting tourism in both directions, leaving Asian tourists stuck in Northern Europe and Scandinavian tourists stranded in Southeast Asia.
