BEIJING: Chinese travellers flocked to tourist hot spots across Asia over the Chinese New Year break, with visitor numbers and spending in destinations including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia exceeding pre COVID-19 levels.
Visa-free access for Chinese tourists to Southeast Asia countries boosted traffic and signalled a robust revival in travel since Beijing lifted strict COVID-19 restrictions in early 2023 that had all but shut China’s borders for three years.
The increase also provides a welcome relief to countries whose tourism industries rely on the Chinese and their spending for growth, although the outlook for a sustained recovery in overseas travel is overshadowed by a sluggish mainland economy and volatile financial markets that have seen consumers tighten their belts at home.
“Despite the macroeconomic headwinds, we believe Chinese citizens are still willing to spend on travel-related experiences … we think travel-related spending could continue to outpace this overall domestic consumption,” HSBC said in a research note.
Bookings to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia combined jumped more than 30 per cent from Feb 10 to Feb 17 compared with 2019, according to travel website operator Trip.com, with Chinese visitors to Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and South Korea also increasing.
The holiday in 2024 lasted for eight days, one day more than the Chinese New Year break in 2019.
Reflecting the boost from visa waivers, hotel bookings for Bangkok tripled over the period from Feb 10 to Feb 13 year-on-year, while those for Singapore jumped nine-fold, according to travel platform LY.com.
Spending in Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia combined on the Chinese mobile payment platform Alipay increased 7.5 per cent in the period from Feb 9 to Feb 12 from 2019 levels and nearly 7-fold from last year, Alipay said.
However, overall consumer spending only recovered to 82 per cent of levels four years ago, the company said.
As Chinese scour for new adventures, the Middle East proved a popular Chinese New Year destination, with travel to Saudi Arabia up more than nine-fold from 2019 levels and bookings to the United Arab Emirates climbing 60 per cent, Trip.com said.