The reason Asian hotspots aren’t overflowing with Chinese travelers
“If a lot of them can return, it will be great as they have buying power,” Chanatip stated.
The anticipated return of group tours departing from China will likely bring many more tourists. It’s currently only those who can afford to pay, and airfares that cost more than three times the amount they typically pay and who are considering traveling to other countries.
This includes people such as Chen Jiao, a doctor who was taking photographs with her children the Tha Phae Gate’s brick-red wall and escaping the cold of Shanghai to take in Chiang Mai’s warm sunshine and cool breezes during her first trip abroad since the virus was discovered in China at the beginning of 2020.
The beaches and temples of destinations like Bali and Chiang Mai are the busiest they have been since the pandemic struck three years ago, but they’re still relatively quiet. AP
“After three years of pandemic and a severe winter, now it’s opening up,” Chen explained. “For we Chinese, the first choice is to visit Chiang Mai because the weather is warm and the people here are very warmhearted.”
In the year 2019, 1.2 million Chinese tourists travelled to Chiang Mai, generating 15 billion dollars (Rs 3,728 million) of income from tourism, which is a huge loss for the region, as many countries close their doors to all travelers.
Group tours are set to begin again on the 6th of February. The number of tourists that will arrive will depend on the number of flights in operation, according to Suladda Sarutilawan, the director at the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Chiang Mai Office. She stated that the expectation is for 500,000-600,000 visits who are from China in the coming year.
Of course, there are more Chinese would be interested in visiting, said Li Wei, a businessman from Shanghai when he visited the wall’s history as part of his large family.
“Since visas and flights are not back to normal yet, maybe tourists will come in the next three months,” Li stated.
In the far south in Bali, the Tropical Indonesian tourist island Bali The eateries and shops were are decorated in festive lanterns, and gold and red envelopes that were used to make Lunar New Year cash presents were empty.
Bali’s first direct flight post-pandemic from China was launched on Sunday, carrying more than 210 travelers from the city’s southern region located in Shenzhen who were welcomed by floral garlands and dancing performance.
“Before COVID, we worked with travel agents who handled Chinese tourists who brought us guests from China everyday, but since they closed down there are far fewer guests,” said Made Sutarma, a seafood restaurant owner in Bali’s Jimbaran region.
After three long years with virtually no patrons, Nyoman Wisana, the director of the Chinese restaurant told the press that the restaurant felt “very happy” to see Chinese visitors return.
A mere 23,000 Chinese tourists have visited Bali between January and November the previous year. Only one-quarter of the island’s 80 tour operators that mostly manage Chinese customers are in operation, according to Putu Winastra, who is the chairman of the Bali Association of Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies.
“Actually, we’re very concerned about this,” said the president. stated.
Indonesia is working on plans to draw more Chinese tourists, such as beginning direct flights from major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou He said.
The few who visited this week seemed thrilled after months of stifling pandemic control that made travel to other countries out of the reach of nearly all Chinese.
Chinese represented almost a third of travel spending in Australia prior to the pandemic, which was greater than 1.4 million visitors in the year 2019. Australia is, along with Japan as well as the US and a handful of other countries, requires travelers from China to undergo COVID-19 tests prior to departing. However, Wang is a worker for CBT Holidays, a company that specializes in travel from and to China Wang said he doesn’t consider it to be a major issue.