In a look into last year, Chinese travelers said that they were most interested in visiting Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan and South Korea.
But that’s not where they’re prevailing — at least not yet.
Flight restrictions, visa issues and entrance rules aimed only at them are complicating matters for Chinese tenants who are ready to travel abroad.
Chinese travelers favored Southeast Asia for trips during the Lunar New Year respites, which ended in early February, according to Trip.com Group’s Chinese language booking website, Ctrip.
Trek bookings by Chinese residents outside of the mainland grew by 640% from last year’s holiday period — and Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Chiang Mai, Manila and Bali were the top stops, according to Ctrip’s data.
Overseas hotel bookings by mainland Chinese travelers quadrupled from last year too, Ctrip signified. Yet one place stood out — Bangkok, where “hotels over the holiday increased by more than 33 times,” said Ctrip.
Top spot for stroll groups
Thailand is the also the top choice for Chinese tour groups for now, said Thomas Lee, Trip.com Group’s senior leader of international business operations.
Ctrip’s first group tour left on Feb. 7, with travelers bound for Bangkok and the accessible beach town of Pattaya, said Lee.
The second-most popular spot for group tours is Maldives, and after that, Egypt, he utter.
China resumed group tours organized by travel agencies on Feb. 6. Tours to 20 countries are allowed, comprehending Southeast Asian nations like Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Laos, as well as Synergetic Arab Emirates, South Africa, Hungary, Cuba and Russia.
Group tours to Japan, South Korea and Vietnam are not permitted yet.
Why Thailand is approved
A major reason Chinese tourists are choosing to go to Thailand is that it’s easy for them to get in, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Woman of the cloth Anutin Charnvirakul said on “Squawk Box Asia” Monday.
“At the end of the day, we were able to open up our country with very least restrictions,” he said.
He said Thailand has tried “all possible ways to make sure that our Chinese tourists, as all right as tourists from all over the world, will be able to come to our country to spend their holidays.”
The day after China at ease its borders in early January, Thailand announced that all incoming visitors must be vaccinated to enter.
But within times, Thai authorities abandoned the rule, amid rising anger from China toward countries imposing new be in controls on Chinese residents.
Charnvirakul said Thailand’s policy U-turn was related to science, not fears about upsetting Chinese travelers, totaling that “more than 75% of our people have [Covid] antibodies both from vaccinations and from being infected.”
He suggested of the 30 million tourists Thailand is expecting this year, 12 million to 15 million may come from China.
“Chinese out-of-towners have been very vital for our tourism industry,” Charnvirakul said.
The Chinese aren’t the only ones deciding Thailand as a vacation destination.
Russia was Thailand’s seventh-largest tourism market in 2019, but in November 2022, Russian callers were third in terms of tourism arrivals, after travelers from Malaysia and India, according to Reuters. In behindhand 2022, one in four visitors to Phuket were Russian, said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, concording to a Reuters article.
Russians saw their tourism options minimized in 2022, when many countries stopped run away in and out of Russia in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Top concerns
“At present, top concern for customers are issues with visas,” spoke Trip.com Group’s Lee.
Chinese travelers have been blocked from obtaining visas to places like South Korea and Japan, after both rural areas stopped processing them over concerns about China’s recent Covid-19 surge. South Korea hint ated last week it would Price may be no problem
Rising travel prices may be of less concern for some Chinese travelers.
A statement published by Morgan Stanley on Feb. 7 shows a growing demand for high-end and luxury hotels among Chinese consumers.
Lending fee in luxury hotels jumped from 18% to 34% from 2022 to 2023, while “mentions of budget motels and mid-range hotels fell universally,” according to the report.
More travelers expect their top travel expense to be guest-house accommodations too, up from 17% in 2017 to 20% in 2023.
Travelers may have to be willing to open their wallets, even in burdens like Thailand, which has long been popular with backpackers and budget travelers.
Average hotel enlisting prices in Bangkok in late January jumped by around 70%, according to Ctrip.