Chinese tourists flock to Southeast Asia as overseas travel bounces back

Chinese tourists flock to Southeast Asia as overseas travel bounces back

BEIJING/HONG KONG — Chinese travelers flocked to tourist hot-spots across Asia over the Lunar New Year break, with visitor numbers and spending in destinations including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia exceeding pre-COVID levels.

Visa-free access for Chinese tourists to the Southeast Asia countries boosted traffic and signaled a robust revival in travel since Beijing lifted strict COVID 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.

READ: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore lure Chinese with visa-free travel

“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% from Feb. 10-17 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 Lunar New year break in 2019.

Reflecting the boost from visa waivers, hotel bookings for Bangkok tripled over the period from Feb. 10-13 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% in the period from Feb. 9-12 from 2019 levels and nearly 7-fold from last year, Alipay said.

However, overall consumer spending only recovered to 82% of levels four years ago, the company said.

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