Tourism news roundup: China’s booming outbound tourism and its economic effects

For PropertyGuru’s news roundup, we feature three news stories on China’s outbound tourism and its effects on Vietnam, the Asia Pacific region, and the global economy.

China’s thriving outbound tourism contributes to global economic recovery

China’s outbound tourism surged during the past Chinese New Year holiday. According to The Malaysian Reserve, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism statistics showed that Chinese tourists made around 3.6 million overseas trips during the holiday.

International observers said that this increase has contributed to the growth of the international tourism industry and boosted the global economic recovery.

Several Southeast Asian countries have successively implemented visa-free policies to attract more Chinese tourists.

Chinese tourists are driving Asia Pacific’s travel boom — flight bookings to hit pre-pandemic levels

Asia Pacific’s travel sector exhibited strong growth, with demand for flights set to match pre-pandemic levels this year, thanks to a boost by Chinese tourists.

According to the International Air Transport Association, the region’s travel demand in December 2023 improved to almost 83 percent of 2019’s numbers, compared with just 57 percent in January. They expect these numbers to improve.

“The environment at the moment remains positive for most airlines,” Willie Walsh, director general of the IATA told CNBC on Tuesday. He added that demand is “just a little bit shy” of pre-pandemic levels and expects flight bookings to hit that goal this year.

Vietnam becomes favourite destination for Chinese tourists in early 2024

Vietnam has gained traction as a leading destination for Chinese holiday-makers, digital travel platform Agoda reported on 27th February.

Accordingly, the number of searches from China for Vietnam during the recent Lunar New Year 2024 almost bounced back to pre-COVID-19 level, reaching 95 percent compared to 2020, a positive sign for Vietnam’s tourism industry.

Data from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism revealed that Chinese tourists accounted for nearly one-third of the total number of visitors to Vietnam in 2019, becoming the S-shaped country’s largest source of tourism revenue, said Director of Agoda Vietnam Vu Ngoc Lam, as reported in VietnamPlus.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].