In 2019, China was the world’s largest source of tourists, responsible for US$255bil worth of overseas spending, according to the World Tourism Organisation. But more recently, the number of Chinese travellers into Asean has been underwhelming.
It was recently reported by Bloomberg that the number of Chinese arrivals in five South-East Asian countries varied between 14% and 39% in May 2023, compared with 2019 numbers.
According to Singapore’s tourism board, Chinese travellers totalled 310,901 from January to May 2023, compared with 1.55 million in the same period in 2019. The faltering number of Chinese tourists could also see Thailand missing its goal of hosting 30 million foreign tourists in 2023. In 2019, the number of Chinese tourists into Thailand rose 4.4% year-on-year to 10.99 million. According to the country’s Tourism and Sports Ministry, the country saw a total of 1.85 million Chinese visitors from January to July this year.
The island of Bali welcomed around 1.2 million Chinese tourists in 2019, just slightly behind the Australians who formed the largest group with 1.23 million arrivals. Indonesia expects to welcome 10 million foreign tourists in 2023, exceeding the target of 8.5 million. The country’s tourism minister said Indonesia was targeting 253,000 Chinese tourists this year.
Flight capacity, China’s economic downturn are possible reasons for the country’s cautious number of tourists. According to global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co, international airline seat capacity had only recovered to around 37% of pre-pandemic levels as at April 2023.
There are also deep structural issues such as: younger Chinese are no longer interested in the group travel experience. More are seeking ‘niche’ experiences that provide access to unique cultural attractions. And then more Chinese are spending more money at home, especially on luxury goods. In 2019, the Chinese accounted for 35% of the global luxury market. Luxury boutiques and duty-free shops in places like Bangkok, Phuket and Kuala Lumpur were the beneficiaries.
However, with duty-free shops at home, luxury sales are expanding quickly in China and could account for nearly 90% of Asia-Pacific’s duty-free sales in the coming years.
While the number of Chinese travellers has been slow to recover, Indian travellers, especially into South-East Asia, have been showing promising growth.
In May 203, more Indians than Chinese travellers visited Singapore. So too for other parts of the region. According to Reuters, 130,400 Indian travellers visited Singapore in May, compared with 95,600 Chinese tourists.
In other Asean countries, while the number of Chinese tourists still exceeds the number of Indian travellers, the drop in visits this year compared with pre-pandemic levels has been lesser for India.
Indian tourists into Thailand in May this year slipped 14% compared with the same month in 2019, while the number of Chinese tourists plunged more than 64%. Indonesia, meanwhile, saw their number of Indian visitors drop 10% in May 2023 from May 2019, compared with a 61% decline in China tourists over the same period. In the Philippines, the number of Indian tourists dropped 53% in May this year, compared with the same month in 2019, while the number of Chinese travellers fell by 86% over the same period.
Cultivating the Indian tourist market would require taking many of the same steps that Asean countries have long taken with China. Easing visa policies, expanding air links and assisting hotels, restaurants and attractions in customisation for Indian arrivals are some of the measures.
Meanwhile, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation foresees the global tourism sector’s recovery to continue throughout 2023, even as the sector faces up to economic, health and geopolitical challenges.
For Malaysia, whether it is from China, India or Singapore, how tourists are welcomed is important. If you are stuck in traffic jam for 9 hours at the Tuas Second Link on a weekend, that is not really a warm welcome. Some have reported all Customs officers on the JB side took off for lunch – causing uproar among the waiting crowd. People will relate these experiences to others. We have this “couldn’t care” or “tidak apa” attitude, which bodes badly for the tourism sector.
If we truly can’t handle too many tourists, then do like Bhutan – have an entry quota and a daily tax of USD250. At least people know they are not welcome in 2023, but maybe in 2024. Otherwise we need to do lots of re-education and re-orientation to welcome people to Malaysia, Truly Asia!
References:
S-E Asia needs to diversify marketing for a more sustainable tourism industry, The Star, 2 September 2023
“Sour destroying”: Man shows day turn to night as he spends over 9 hours crossing Tuas Second Link, Drima Chakraborty, AsiaOne, 2 September 2023
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