Việt Nam•24/06/2024
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In the summer of 2024, Chinese tourists chose Vietnam as their top destination in Asia, while Japan and Thailand ranked No. 1 and No. 2.
South Korea and Japan have seen a surge in Chinese tourists after their currencies weakened against the yuan, while Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia and Thailand have attracted visitors with visa-free travel and relatively lower costs, according to ForwardKeys data and bookings on online travel sites cited by Bloomberg.
Specifically, the top Asian destinations for Chinese tourists in the summer of 2024, in order, include: Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Macau.
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| Chinese tourists at Mong Cai border gate. Photo: LNH |
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in May, the number of Chinese visitors reached 357,000, returning to the number 1 position for the first time in many years, surpassing Korean visitors (351,000) who have occupied the top ranking of the largest source of visitors for the past 4 years.
The return of Chinese tourists to the global travel market is being closely watched, as their impact is crucial to the recovery of the tourism industry. Forecasts on when Chinese outbound trips will return to pre-pandemic levels vary – some expect a full recovery by the end of the year, while others including Fitch Group say mainland tourists are still holding back on spending.
Booking and search data show demand for international travel is up this summer. Trip.com Group has seen outbound travel from China double year-on-year, with family group sales for overseas vacations accounting for half of current bookings.
The World Travel and Tourism Council forecast in early June that Chinese tourists would spend 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion) on overseas trips this year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
For now, Chinese tourists have yet to fully return to the numbers seen in 2019. Regional destinations for the June-August summer season are expected to recover to around 80% of 2019 levels, according to ForwardKeys’ analysis of airfare activity as of June 7.
The only two countries in Asia expected to attract more Chinese visitors than in 2019 are Singapore with a 15% spike and Malaysia with a 32% increase.
Tong Cheng Travel, an online company popular with Chinese users, said Asian countries that have implemented visa-free policies have seen faster booking growth, with Thailand and Singapore becoming popular weekend destinations.
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