Thai tourism companies introduced their products to Chinese travel agents at the Atta roadshow in Shanghai. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand this year reached 3.1 million as of December 3 (Photo: Molpasorn Shoowong)
The best-case scenario for the Chinese market next year is that 7 million tourists will flock to Malaysia and Singapore from the mainland thanks to the reciprocal visa-free policy, where Thailand has not yet obtained a visa-free visa from China. Possible arrival.
The Chinese government reportedly plans to extend the current 15-day visa waiver and offer a 30-day visa waiver to Singaporeans early next year after granting visa waivers to arrivals from Malaysia. It is said that there is.
Sisdivachar Cheevarattanaporn, chairman of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), chooses Singapore as his holiday destination because of its shared culture, Chinese-speaking community and greater confidence in safety compared to Thailand. He said that an increasing number of Chinese people are choosing
He said that although Thailand maintains a large market share of overall Chinese outbound tourists, next year will also be tough as Thailand will compete with domestic tourists from China and other countries with reciprocal visa agreements with China. The situation is likely to continue, he said, adding that this is likely to be a factor in strengthening airline operations. seating capacity.
As of November 15, 1.4 million Chinese people have visited Malaysia this year, and Malaysia recently announced that it will waive visas for Chinese nationals from December 1.
Singapore received 1.12 million Chinese tourists in the first 10 months.
In the case of Thailand, the number of Chinese arrivals reached 3.1 million as of December 3, a far cry from the approximately 10 million in 2019.
“In China, young people are severely affected by unemployment, although some still have high purchasing power in major and secondary cities. The challenge is how to attract those who can still afford to pay. raft,” said Sisdivachar.
He said Thailand has an opportunity to increase its Chinese market to 7 million people next year from an estimated 4 million people this year.
Atta, in cooperation with the Tourism Board of Thailand, held its first China Roadshow of the year in Shanghai and Chengdu from December 11th to 15th.
Atta Honorary Secretary-General Addis Cheerattananon said if Thailand aims to increase tourist arrivals to 35 million next year, China should be given top priority to achieve that goal. .
Addis said other markets such as Europe, the Middle East, Japan and South Korea may not be able to expand production capacity as much as China, which still has room for growth.
He said Thailand will increase the number of Chinese tourists from secondary cities traveling with tour groups on chartered flights, targeting those who have never been to Thailand before to ensure a certain level of safety. He said that we should strive to do so.
Potential targets include Anhui, Tianjin, Shandong and Guangzhou.
Edison Chen, vice president of destination marketing and strategic alliances at Trip.com, said that tourism revenue for outbound Chinese travelers on the company’s platform has recovered to 80% of 2019 levels, which is the highest for group travel. He said this was due to a solo traveler who recovered more quickly than the others.
The platform said this trend also shows that the majority of business travelers are extending their stay after completing errands.
