2023-09-29 04:45:00
(CNN) — Thailand’s golden beaches, shopping districts and ornate temples are once again filling with tourists, and the Chinese are receiving an especially VIP welcome thanks to a new visa-free scheme.
Vowing to revive the country’s economy, newly appointed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin announced a visa waiver policy for Chinese and Kazakh tourists from September 25 to February 24 next year, a sign that the industry’s recovery Thai tourism is a top priority.
The policy comes just in time for China’s “Golden Week,” centered around National Day on October 1.
This year’s Golden Week coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, and involves a 10-day travel rush from September 29 to October 8. It is also one of the first holiday periods since the Covid-19 pandemic during which Chinese people can travel without restrictions.
Chinese visitors from Shanghai were greeted with gifts, presented by Sretta and tourism ministers, at Bangkok airport on Monday, as the visa-free policy came into effect.
“We are confident that this plan will substantially boost the economy,” Sretta told reporters.
“We would like to encourage more visits by Chinese tourists not only in major cities such as Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.”
He noted that the Thai government hopes travelers will visit more small cities, to prolong their stay and increase spending.
This week’s warm welcome was appreciated by Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Tuesday.
China was once the biggest source of tourists to Thailand: nearly 11 million visitors went to the Southeast Asian nation in 2019, accounting for more than a quarter of international arrivals before the Covid-19 pandemic tanked the tourism market. world.
These figures contrast with those of 2023. Only 2.2 million Chinese travelers arrived between January and September 10 of this year, according to data from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Southeast Asian countries had pinned high hopes on a rebound in international travel to boost their tourism sectors following pandemic-induced shutdowns, and their positive outlook was bolstered by the easing of travel restrictions imposed by China in early 2023.
However, with the outlook for China’s economy, a weakening yuan and grim unemployment numbers, regional travel hubs have had to trim their expectations and prepare for a longer road to recovery.
Chinese tourists pray in front of Thai dancers at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, on September 22, 2023.
(Anusak Laowilas/Nur Photo/Getty Images)
Gary Bowerman, founder of Check-in Asia, a tourism-focused research and marketing company, said the new visa-free strategy sets the tone not only for the peak Golden Week seasons, but also for the coming periods. Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays.
“Competition to attract Chinese tourists is intensifying in the region among all countries, and we must make it as easy as possible for them,” Bowerman said.
He added that the travel sector is going through a “transitional period” as trends and sentiments have changed since the pandemic, while more Chinese consumers seek different experiences, often on smaller budgets.
Trips for millions
Last year, China did not allow its citizens to travel outside the country for leisure reasons due to its restrictions linked to Covid-19. This led to a boom in domestic tourism.
Now, even though the economy is struggling, people who can afford it are increasingly taking the opportunity to go abroad for a short getaway.
Among them, a technology worker surnamed Huang. On Xiaohongshu, China’s equivalent of Instagram, he told CNN that last year he spent the October long weekend on a road trip through the western part of Sichuan province, but this time he will fly to Thailand for a surfing adventure.
“I’ve been there before. What I most want to see and experience is surfing. I still have no idea what the waves are like in Thailand, and this time I’m going to explore new destinations,” he says.
Overseas international travel bookings are almost 20 times higher compared to the same holiday period last year, according to Trip.com, which also operates China’s largest travel booking platform, Ctrip.
In September 2022, for example, more than 70 major Chinese cities were under coronavirus lockdowns, affecting about 300 million people.
After the visa waiver plan was announced on September 13, hotel reservations to Thailand increased 6,220% compared to the same period last year, according to Trip.com. Thailand is expected to be the top tourist destination for Chinese travelers, closely followed by South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom.
More than 21 million passengers will travel by air to China during Golden Week, with an average of 17,000 international flights daily and another 14,000 domestic flights daily, Jin Junhao, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said at a press conference. press.
Trains are also busier than ever, taking citizens to China’s many far-flung destinations.
China Railway estimates that around 190 million rail trips will be made from September 27 to October 8, according to railway booking platform 12306.
This is more than double the 72 million trips made during the same holiday last year and even exceeds the 138 million trips made in 2019, before the pandemic.
Despite the rising numbers, China’s outbound international flight capacity is still around 50%, much lower than other countries, and international flight fares remain much higher compared to 2019 due to limited available capacity, said Joanna Lu, head of Asia consulting at Ascend by Cirium.
Meanwhile, traveler habits have changed since the pandemic. Chinese travelers venturing out of the country these days want new experiences at a reasonable price, said Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, director general of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI).
“There has been a change: people are looking for good value for money,” he says.
Those with purchasing power will continue to travel not only for leisure, but also for business, health, education and family, he adds.
Rumors and movies complicate efforts to attract tourists again
Before the visa waiver policy was announced this month, Chinese tourists had been slow to return to Thailand.
During the first seven months of 2023, China was absent from the list of the main tourist source markets to Thailand for the first time in a decade, according to data from the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports published in August.
Complicating efforts to recapture this lucrative market, Chinese social media users expressed fear of visiting Thailand due to rumors that travelers could be kidnapped and sent across the border to work in scam centers in Myanmar. or Cambodia. These accusations intensified with the release of the film “No More Bets,” a thriller set in an unspecified Southeast Asian country where people are lured to work in scam factories.
Meanwhile, a hashtag that translates to “why people are not willing to travel to Thailand” garnered 420 million views on Weibo and was one of the top topics of discussion on the social network last month. Some users said they were afraid of being lured into scam factories, while others cited that the visa process at the time was taking too long.
That prompted the government to try to regain the trust of Chinese consumers, said Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Thai Association of Travel Agencies. He added that the rumors were false and that these illicit operations were taking place in neighboring countries such as Myanmar and Cambodia, not in Thailand.
Whatever the reason for the lackluster arrival numbers at the start of the year, the Thai tourism sector is still banking on a boom as Chinese travelers head out over the coming holiday periods.
“It may not be 100% yet, but it is improving. Tourism companies have prepared themselves,” says Sisdivachr.
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