S'pore not among top few places visited by mainland Chinese tourists for now, more expected in Jun.-Aug. 2024 compared to 2019

Singapore and Malaysia are the only two countries in Asia which are expected to see the number of visiting mainland Chinese tourists exceed the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 for the June to August period.

These were the results of an analysis conducted by ForwardKeys, a travel intelligence company based in Spain, Bloomberg reported.

Singapore has been forecast to have a 15 per cent increase in the number of mainland Chinese tourists, while Malaysia could see a spike of 32 per cent, the analysis noted.

Visa-free travel and low cost appear to be driving factors

An online agency that is reportedly popular with mainland Chinese for bookings, Tongcheng Travel, was cited as saying that Asian countries which have visa-free travel with China are seeing a faster growth in bookings.

In particular, Singapore is a popular destinations for weekend getaways, the agency noted.

Both Malaysia and Singapore have visa-free travel with China.

The mutual visa exemption arrangement between Singapore and China took effect on Feb. 9, 2024.

It was first announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong at the 19th Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) forum held in Tianjin, China, on Dec. 7, 2023.

As for Malaysia, at least one mainland Chinese who was interviewed by Bloomberg, highlighted that price was the biggest factor in choosing Malaysia as a holiday for her family.

"It’s good value for money,” she said. "I like ocean views and it’s not that far."

In addition, mainland Chinese actress, Fan Bingbing, was recently made the travel ambassador for the Malaysian state of Melaka, according to The New Straits Times.

This has resulted in the state being searched over 320 million times from Jun. 14 to Jun. 15, Fan's public relations manager was quoted as saying.

Top destinations for mainland Chinese tourists are Japan and Thailand

Bloomberg reported that Japan and Thailand have emerged as the top destinations for mainland Chinese tourists for the summer of 2024.

This has been the result of a weakening yen against the renminbi in the case of Japan, and relatively lower costs, along with visa-free entry for Thailand.

Thailand was also cited by Tongcheng Travel as another popular destination for a weekend getaway.

Mainland Chinese visitors still need a visa to visit Japan.

Bloomberg reported that forecasts vary as to when overseas trips by mainland Chinese tourists will rebound worldwide.

Some have predicted that it will happen by the end of 2024, while others have pointed out that such tourists are still being conservative with their spending.

For regional destinations from June to August 2024, they are set to recover to about 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic level in 2019, according to ForwardKeys.

Top photo by Dhoomil Sheta via Unsplash