- Increased Chinese tourism to Thailand
- Bangkok’s Lunar New Year festivities
- Visa exemptions boost arrivals
Beijing’s Chinatown is lively with activity as it is illuminated with decorative banners and red lanterns in observance of the Lunar New Year.
Ethnic Chinese Thais flocked to temples over the weekend in observance of the Year of the Dragon, where they lit candles and prayed for good fortune.
Within the luminous crimson interior of Bangkok’s largest Chinese temple, Wat Mangkon Kamalawat, women took photographs with their loved ones while wearing traditional cheongsam dresses.
Lion dancers entertained the crowds on Yaowarat Road, where Thais and legions of tourists patronised the marketplace while sampling the cuisine and purchasing merchandise from the stalls.
Hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals, according to official statistics, spent the 10-day holiday that began on February 10 in Thailand, where visas are no longer required.
Historically, destinations in Southeast Asia have relied on a robust Lunar New Year holiday to inaugurate the tourism calendar,” explained Gary Bowerman, a Kuala Lumpur-based tourism analyst.
“Thailand, under the leadership of the prime minister, has strategically positioned itself to attract outbound travel demand from China by waiving bilateral visas and engaging in aggressive marketing into the Chinese market. The positive reception of this development among Chinese travelers has prompted Chinese airlines to increase their capacity during the Chinese New Year period.
Visa Exemption Boosts Chinese Tourism
In September, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin initiated an effort to increase Chinese tourist arrivals by announcing a provisional visa exemption for Chinese visitors. As of March 1, Thailand and China signed an indefinite reciprocal visa exemption for their nationals to enter the other country, thereby transforming the temporary agreement into a permanent one.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s deputy governor for marketing, Nithee Seeprae, states that Chinese arrivals have been positive.
“The Chinese New Year is a positive sign for the new visa waiver between China and Thailand, as it inspires more confidence in Chinese tourists,” he said. It is also a very exciting and prosperous Chinese New Year.” “Since February 1, when 27–28,000 tourists have been arriving daily, things have nearly returned to normal since the Covid outbreak.” It was 7,000–8,000 at the same time last year. “500,000 [Chinese visitors] arrived last month.”
Chai Wacharonke, a spokesman for the Thai government, reported on Saturday that four million tourists, including over 730,000 Chinese, visited the country between January 1 and February 8.
Nithee estimates that the number of Chinese visitors may reach one million by the conclusion of the current month.
“In order to organize a roadshow in the major cities of China, we collaborate with traditional travel agents and run promotions with online travel agencies.” Furthermore, the flights have resumed operating at 90% capacity, which was the case prior to the pandemic, due to the exemption of visas. “We [are] attempting to coordinate with Chinese key opinion leaders and influencers in order to develop the content experience in Thailand,” he continued.
We have scheduled additional initiatives.
Recently, Phuket, located in southern Thailand, has experienced a surge in visitor numbers.
Local media sources estimate that the island’s international airport will serve as the primary entry point for 49,000 visitors per day from February 16 through the Chinese New Year period.
The festival occurs during the peak season in Thailand, which typically extends from November to March, and is a significant Chinese holiday.
The opulent Hyatt Regency Phuket Resort’s director of sales and marketing, Ranjeet Viswanathan, remarked that occupancy was even greater than anticipated.
“The year has obtained an explosive start.” January results surpassed all expectations for each hotel, and the trend persists in February. Since January 1, our hotel has maintained an occupancy rate of over 92%.
Chinese visitors account for approximately 12% of the resort’s total revenue, and the number of visitors in 2024 thus far has increased by a mere 5% compared to the same period last year.
The Chinese calendar designates 2024 as the Year of the Wood Dragon, a period that may witness the emergence of innovative concepts, undertakings, and affluence.
The Thai travel industry has historically relied heavily on Chinese visitors. However, despite the recent increase in arrivals, the figures still fall significantly short of 2019, the year preceding the Covid-19 pandemic.
During that particular year, over 11 million of the record-breaking 39 million tourists who visited Thailand were Chinese citizens.
Although more than 3.5 million Chinese visitors arrived in Thailand last year, that figure fell short of the five million that Thai officials had anticipated.
Factors Influencing Chinese Tourism
The underwhelming figures were attributed by experts to domestic travel trends and China’s economic dilemmas. A Chinese national was killed in a September mass shooting at a Bangkok shopping mall, and the publication of the Chinese blockbuster film No More Bets, which depicts scams in Southeast Asia, may have also been factors.
However, the tourism analyst Bowerman asserts that China’s outbound travel is recuperating as evidenced by the recent influx of Chinese tourists to Thailand.
“Strong demand for travel from China to Thailand in the first two months of 2024 suggests that outbound travel from China in 2024 will be significantly different from that of 2023,” he said.
From China, Thai tourism authorities anticipate over eight million visitors by the conclusion of 2024.
Nithee, the tourism authority, is currently engaged in negotiations to establish new flight routes from China to various Thai cities, including Udon Thani in the northeast and Hat Yai in the south, in an effort to attract more Chinese visitors. He is confident that Thailand will reach its goal of receiving visitors by the conclusion of the calendar year.
“It is extremely encouraging. “We must monitor these circumstances, increase tourist confidence, and increase our promotional efforts,” he continued.
