ER
TOURIST destinations in Southeast Asian countries are predicted to reap high revenues from Chinese tourist arrivals after the Xi Jinping Government relaxed its zero-Covid policy by lifting travel bans for its citizens abroad.
According to CIMB economist Song Seng Wun, said our office sees that Chinese tourists are more interested in taking vacations to countries with minimal strict regulations such as regions in Southeast Asia. A number of Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia have so far not imposed COVID-19 test requirements for travelers from China.
This is in contrast to the policies in Europe, Japan and the United States which are currently tightening controls by imposing COVID-19 testing rules for Chinese travelers.
This reason then makes Chinese travelers choose to vacation in the Southeast Asian region. It is recorded that 76% of Chinese travel agents have now placed Southeast Asia as the main destination for tourist trips, since December 2022.
This condition is of course a blessing in itself, considering that in recent years the Asian region has reportedly experienced a decline in the number of tourists due to regional tightening policies due to COVID-19.
“A meaningful recovery, a surge in mass tourists will start in the second quarter of 2023,” Seng Wun explained.
In 2019, nearly a third of the 18 million arrivals of foreign tourists coming to Vietnam were dominated by tourists from China. This number is predicted to increase rapidly in the 2023 holiday season, until Vietnam can obtain billions of US dollars in revenue coffers. Given that currently the Vietnamese government is not imposing special restrictions on Chinese travelers.
“Chinese people travel abroad, spent US$254.6 billion in 2019, this amount is predicted to increase in 2023 with Vietnam’s tourism recovery able to restore GDP in 2023,” said one of the analysts at the ITB China trade fair.
Not much different from Vietnam, Thailand, which is known as the Land of the White Elephant, is also projected to experience a surge in arrivals of around five million tourists from China so that they can reap fantastic amounts of income.
Before the pandemic, to be precise, in 2019, tourists from China had also contributed 20 percent of income to Thai tourism. By lifting the travel ban on Chinese citizens, Thai Minister of Public Health Anutin Charnvirakul is optimistic that his country can again record a surge in revenue from the tourism sector.
“This is an opportunity to restore our economic situation and recover from the losses we have suffered for almost three years,” said Charnvirakul.
Similar conditions are also experienced by Cambodia, Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, said that his country is an attractive destination for Chinese people. This is because they do not require Chinese people to do any tests.
Meanwhile, Indonesia is targeting more than 250,000 Chinese tourists to visit a number of its regions in 2023. Although this number is still relatively small when compared to pre-pandemic numbers. However, it is hoped that the easing implemented by the Indonesian government will be a moment for the country’s economy to return with the nickname of this archipelago.
Malaysia, which is projecting to experience a surge in tourists from China of 1.5 million to 2 million tourists in 2023, in order to increase the coffers of the Malaysian Tour and Travel Agent Association, is even preparing road shows in Chinese cities to attract visitors. [sources/photo special]
