Long article:
Chinese tourists 2.0 – Coming anytime soon?
Sangeetha Amarthalingam | Publication date 19 May 2022 | 21:16 ICT



Regional tourism is grappling with the absence of the prolific travellers and big spenders – the Chinese tourists. Cambodia, which has welcomed over two million Chinese tourists before Covid-19, is reeling from the economic loss despite being the first to fully open last November

‘To put it simply, tourism in Southeast Asia will not see a full recovery until Chinese travellers come back,” said Hannah Pearson, a Southeast Asia travel and tourism industry analyst.

Truth be told, it is not just Southeast Asian tourism but the world in general, given the fact that it is the largest tourism source market since 2012.

But the protracted travel restrictions relating to its zero-Covid policy, multiple pre-and-post departure tests and quarantine imposed on inbound travellers (which eased slightly this week) have discouraged its citizens from venturing abroad.

“The whole world is eagerly waiting for Chinese visitors to reappear on the global travel market.

“Unfortunately, while the rest of the world sees a strong rebound of tourism, China is still struggling with the Omicron virus,” said Prof Dr Wolfgang Georg Arlt, founder and CEO of China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI).

In addition, political development is currently concentrated on the preparation of the Communist Party of China’s 20th national congress.

“Therefore, if we are lucky, China’s outbound travel might start again in October, but it will probably be in the beginning of 2023,” Georg Arlt said.

In 2018, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said outbound trips from China climbed 15 per cent year-on-year to around 150 million (4.5 million in 2000), with Chinese tourists spending over $277 billion in their travels.

Broken down, 43 per cent of Chinese tourists surveyed by the organisation found that they would spend between $725 and $1,450 per person in one trip, or an average of $970. Of that, a quarter of the total expenses goes to shopping.

In comparison, non-Chinese tourists spent an average of $486 per person in one trip, measurement and data analytics firm Nielsen Holdings Inc said in 2017.

While total Chinese tourists expenditure retreated slightly to $255 billion in 2019, the sum represented nearly 20 per cent of total international tourism spending.

Economists Bernard Aw and Eve Barre, who noted that the global travel industry is “greatly dependent” on China, said in ASEAN, 23 per cent of tourist arrivals in 2019 consisted of Chinese nationals.

This is particularly the case for Cambodia and Vietnam where 36 per cent and 32 per cent of total international arrivals, respectively, were from China, they said.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/special-r ... ytime-soon

I don't miss them. Anywhere. Long may they stay locked down.

Alex wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 11:58 am I don't miss them. Anywhere. Long may they stay locked down.

You can only put up with being in lockdown for so long before citizens start to fight back, but when will that happen.

They aren't struggling with Omicron, they are struggling with their own stupidity!

Alex wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 11:58 am I don't miss them. Anywhere. Long may they stay locked down.

100% agreed!!

I wonder what percentage of the spend by Chinese tourists is received by Chinese owned companies/shops/restaurants/hotels etc.

" The whole world is eagerly waiting for Chinese visitors to reappear on the global travel market "

I think that comment needs to carry a rather heavy caveat with it. .

I understand the economic pain their absence brings to the tourist indusrty, but the sheer volume of them places an unsustainable burden on the infrastucture and environment. For example if Covid hadn't come along Pattaya was heading for a severe drought scenario, I've no doubt it will happen in the future as the natural resource planning and execution seems to be a lot harder to do than simply allowing in as many tourists as possible.