THAILAND and Japan – two countries that have long been popular destinations for tourists from China – are starting to lose their appeal to Chinese travellers.

That’s according to the findings of a new survey conducted by China Trading Desk.

The September edition of the quarterly travel sentiment survey by the Singapore-based digital marketing firm polled over 10,000 Chinese residents on their upcoming international travel plans.

Thailand – which claimed the top spot as the most popular destination for Chinese tourists in the first three months of 2023 – plummeted to sixth place, with just 10 per cent of respondents selecting it as one of their future destinations.

Japan, which topped the list in the second quarter, slid to eighth place with only 6.7 per cent of respondents planning to travel there.

In contrast, Singapore, Europe, and South Korea are among the countries that have benefited from the change in Chinese tourist sentiment.

A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU

Friday, 8.30 am

Asean Business

Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.

Sign Up

Singapore was named the most popular destination in the third quarter with 17.5 per cent of those polled choosing the Lion City as one of the destinations they will visit. In second place was Europe (14.3 per cent), followed by South Korea (11.4 per cent).

Thailand’s decline in popularity can be attributed to various Chinese media outlets portraying South-east Asia as an unsafe destination.

Two Chinese crime movies, Lost in the Stars and No More Bets, which were released in mainland China in June and August respectively, both depict South-east Asia as a region troubled by murder, gang crime and fraud cases.

Subramania Bhatt, the founder and chief executive of China Trading Desk, said that some people who watched No More Bets even “expressed fears that travelling to the region could jeopardise their lives”.

“These two films have raised concerns among Chinese tourists regarding safety in South-east Asia,” he said. “Over time, the region has increasingly become associated with danger, and what was once a popular destination for outbound tourism has now acquired a negative connotation.”

Thailand’s tourism-reliant economy depends heavily on international visitors, especially from China. In 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand welcomed a record 11 million Chinese tourists, a group that made up nearly 30 per cent of the country’s 39.9 million international arrivals that year.

Thai authorities have rolled out various incentives to bring Chinese tourism back to pre-Covid levels. In September, the government launched a temporary visa waiver programme for Chinese tourists. This scheme, which will run until the end of February 2024, lets them stay for up to 30 days.

Bhatt also pointed out that, shortly after China Trading Desk’s survey was completed in September, a deadly shooting at the Siam Paragon mall in downtown Bangkok in the first week of October “will only accentuate Chinese fears of travel to Thailand”.

The incident, he added, has further damaged the country’s attractiveness as a tourist destination in the eyes of visitors from China. (*see amendment note)

There have been 2.8 million tourist arrivals from China to Thailand so far this year, which means that the Thai government is unlikely to meet its full-year target of between four million and 4.4 million visitors from the world’s second-largest economy.

As for Japan, the survey noted that its dip in popularity was mainly due to the release of water from its tsunami-destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, beginning in August. While Japanese authorities have repeatedly stressed that this process is being done safely, it has nonetheless sparked health concerns among some tourists.

“Eating well is one of Chinese tourists’ most important reasons to travel to new places, and their fears of nuclear-contaminated food have turned one of their most popular destinations into one of their least popular,” said Bhatt.

The survey also found that the top reason for tourists going abroad was to enjoy delicious food, with nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents saying so.

For the first nine months of 2023, China has seen 24 million outbound travellers and this number is projected to exceed 38 million by year-end. Some 35.1 per cent of respondents said they plan to travel abroad within the next six months.

Despite the steady recovery, outbound travel figures are still significantly below the pre-Covid level of 155 million in 2019. China Trading Desk expects the number to recover to 200 million within the next five years.

*Amendment note: An earlier version of this story used the wrong pronoun for Subramania Bhatt, the founder and chief executive of China Trading Desk.