Chinese tourists opt to stay home, denting Southeast Asia’s economic recovery

Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore have all seen visitor numbers disappoint, as Chinese travellers remain hesitant to spend money heading abroad

The trend could push some Southeast Asian nations to look at diversifying their target markets – though one economist says ‘it’s still early days yet’

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Chinese tourists pose for photos by Lake Puma Yumco in Tibet this month. Only 1.6 per cent of Chinese travelling in tour groups went overseas in the first quarter of this year, down from 30 per cent from the same period in 2019, according to official figures. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 10:01am, 10 Jul 2023Updated: 10:13am, 10 Jul 2023

Southeast Asian nations that were counting on Chinese travellers to drive tourism revenues and their economies post-Covid are finding the flow of visitors far from the flood they were hoping for.

China’s slower-than-expected economic recovery has left its population more hesitant to spend money heading abroad. The result: the number of Chinese arrivals in five Southeast Asian countries in May was between 14 per cent and 39 per cent of the 2019 numbers, latest official data compiled by Bloomberg shows.

The visitor statistics suggest that Southeast Asia’s economic recovery this year will be muted, amid a dimming global growth outlook from tighter monetary policies and China’s faltering growth momentum.

Although Thailand, among the most tourism-reliant economies in the region, is benefiting from a rebound in post-pandemic travel demand, Chinese visitor arrivals are expected to miss the original official seven million target for 2023 by at least two million.

Tourists wait to check in for flights at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport earlier this year. Thailand expects to fall well short its target of attracting seven million Chinese tourists this year. Photo: Reuters

Bali, one of the most popular holiday destinations that accounts for the bulk of Indonesia’s total foreign visitors, saw demand for luxury hotels drop in the January-May period amid a substantial decline in tourists from China, according to securities firm PT Bahana Sekuritas.

Even Singapore, which had credited the travel boom for ruling out a recession this year, has seen numbers disappoint. Chinese visitors during January to May totalled 310,901, compared to 1.55 million in the same period in 2019, according to data from the city state’s tourism board.