Chinese tourists return, risk of 'zero-dong' tours happening again?

Start to increase strongly

With visa exemptions and cheap airfares, the Thai government is targeting 8 million visitors from China this year, according to SCMP .

As a result, Thailand is optimistic that it will reach a record 40 million international visitors in 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers and cementing its status as Southeast Asia's tourism "champion." During the Lunar New Year, nearly 30,000 Chinese tourists visited Thailand every day.

Thailand exempts visas for Chinese visitors and has attracted a large number of tourists from this country.

Chinese tourists took advantage of new visa-free travel to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore during the eight-day Lunar New Year holiday, driving bookings nine times higher than the same period last year, according to online travel platform LY.com.

For Malaysia, this year, the target is to welcome 27.3 million international visitors. During the Lunar New Year alone, Malaysia welcomed 100,000 Chinese visitors, up 50% year-on-year, who spent RM1.5 billion (US$312.66 million) in the country.

Spending in the three Southeast Asian countries via China's Alipay payment platform also increased nearly sevenfold between February 9 and 12, compared to the previous year and 7.5% higher than in 2019.

Economists at HSBC said in a research note last month that “Chinese citizens remain willing to spend on travel-related experiences” despite “macroeconomic headwinds” at home. “We think travel-related spending could continue to outpace… overall domestic consumption,” the note noted.

Cambodia has also seen a significant increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Angkor Archaeological Park. The report said 16,074 Chinese tourists visited Angkor in the first two months of this year, up 140 percent from 6,690 in the same period last year.

Chinese tourists enter Vietnam through Mong Cai border gate

Similarly, since the beginning of the year, the number of Chinese tourists entering Vietnam has begun to increase compared to previous years. Specifically, the Mong Cai International Border Gate Border Guard Station has processed entry procedures for more than 141,000 Chinese tourists from January to early March. After the full moon of January, the number of Chinese tourists entering the country has increased, averaging about 2,000 people per day.

Have Chinese tourists changed?

China's recent economic woes have been watched with concern across tourism-dependent Southeast Asia, which has suffered from a dearth of visitors from the billion-people market during the pandemic.

“The recovery in Chinese outbound travel is much slower than expected for Southeast Asian destinations in 2023,” said Gary Bowerman, director of Kuala Lumpur-based travel analytics firm Check-in Asia. “So we’ll find out who the ‘new’ Chinese tourists are by the end of 2024. But this year will definitely be stronger. We’ve seen a number of different trends. The value-oriented travelers are still there, as are group tours, but there’s also a younger market, young couples, business travelers. It’s very diverse.”

Another bright spot is that business trips from mainland China are also starting to return.

Chinese tourists are "filling up" Angkor Wat

According to Todd Handcock, global chief commercial officer and Asia-Pacific president of Collinson Group, which operates the Priority Pass lounge access program, airport lounge traffic from mainland China is on an upward trajectory and has continued during the recent Lunar New Year holiday, with Southeast Asian markets such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia benefiting.

He expects “this momentum to accelerate in the coming months, in part due to visa-free travel programs across several Asia-Pacific markets and the release of pent-up demand for international travel among Chinese consumers.”

Competition is intensifying, with travel companies in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore launching major advertising campaigns to attract Chinese tourists.

For example, the government of Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has made promises to invest in airport capacity to revitalize the country's economy as it sets a growth target of 5%.

For example, the long-delayed second terminal in Chiang Mai is due to be completed within the next three to four years, doubling potential tourist numbers to 16 million – in a city of fewer than 200,000 people.

Regardless of the "0 dong" tour returning

In Thailand, where tourism authorities are aiming to surpass a record 39 million visitors in 2019, bringing back “zero dollar” tour groups may be the best way to achieve that goal, despite the fact that they benefit Chinese operators but cause huge losses for Thai businesses. Other countries in the region are also struggling to avoid “zero dollar” tours as Chinese tourists surge.

A group of Thai tour guides gathered to protest against China's "zero-dollar" tours.

“Zero-dollar travel is not going away. Last year, airfares were so high that travel companies couldn’t do it, but as countries lower the barriers, you’ll see more,” Bowerman said, adding that travel companies are also expanding to attract “zero-dollar” tourists to third-tier Chinese cities who have never really traveled abroad before.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/khach-trung-quoc-tro-lai-nguy-co-tour-0-dong-tai-dien-185240311081226842.htm