Vietnam in top 10 destinations for Chinese tourists

Follow Gia Lai Newspaper on Google News

Northern men
Northern women
Southern women
Southern men

In the summer of 2024, Chinese tourists chose Vietnam as their top destination in Asia, while Japan and Thailand ranked 1st and 2nd.

South Korea and Japan have seen a surge in Chinese tourists after their currencies weakened against the yuan, while Southeast Asian countries including Malaysia and Thailand have attracted visitors with visa-free travel and relatively lower costs, according to data from ForwardKeys and bookings on online travel sites cited by Bloomberg.

Specifically, the top Asian destinations for Chinese tourists in the summer of 2024, in order, include: Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Macau.

Khách Trung Quốc ở cửa khẩu Móng Cái. Ảnh: LNH

Chinese tourists at Mong Cai border gate. Photo: LNH

According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in May, the number of Chinese visitors reached 357,000, returning to the number 1 position for the first time in many years, surpassing Korean visitors (351,000) who have occupied the top ranking of the largest source of visitors for the past 4 years.

The return of Chinese tourists to the global travel market is being closely watched, as their impact is crucial to the recovery of the tourism industry. Forecasts on when Chinese outbound trips will return to pre-pandemic levels vary - some expect a full recovery by the end of the year, while others including Fitch Group say mainland tourists are still restraining their spending.

Booking and search data show demand for international travel is rising this summer. Trip.com Group has seen outbound travel from China double year-on-year, with family group sales for overseas holidays accounting for half of current bookings.

The World Travel and Tourism Council forecast in early June that Chinese tourists would spend 1.8 trillion yuan ($250 billion) on overseas trips this year, exceeding pre-pandemic levels for the first time.

For now, Chinese tourists have yet to fully return to the numbers seen in 2019. Regional destinations for the summer season from June to August are expected to recover to around 80% of 2019 levels, according to ForwardKeys’ analysis of air ticket sales as of June 7.

The only two countries in Asia expected to see Chinese arrivals surpass 2019 levels are Singapore with a 15% spike and Malaysia with a 32% increase.

Tong Cheng Travel, an online company popular with Chinese users, said Asian countries with visa-free policies have seen faster booking growth, with Thailand and Singapore becoming popular weekend destinations.