Outbound tourism from China is recovering slowly from the COVID-19 pandemic due to rising costs and difficulties in obtaining visas. In contrast, domestic and short-haul travel is growing strongly.
This has had a major impact on travel companies, hotels and retailers globally.
More than a year after China officially reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery of China's outbound tourism sector is said to be slower than market expectations. In contrast, the country's tourism industry has witnessed a boom in domestic routes.
In 2023, Chinese people will make 87 million outbound trips, down 40% from pre-COVID-19 levels, and the decline will accelerate even more from the Lunar New Year in 2024.
In terms of spending, according to data from the World Tourism Organization, Chinese tourists spent 24% less in 2023 than in 2019, while US tourists' spending increased by 14% during this period.
This is bad news for top destinations for Chinese tourists before the pandemic, such as France, Australia and the United States.
According to Liu Simin, deputy director of the tourism branch of the Future Research Association - a Chinese research institute - within the next five years, the country's international tourism industry will not be able to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
The recovery will be much slower than expected, while the depreciation of the yuan and inflation in the US and the European Union are a double blow to the sector.
In fact, since the beginning of this year, the Chinese currency has fallen more than 2% against the US dollar, increasing the cost of Chinese tourists abroad.
The recovery of international tourism has been outpaced by the boom in domestic tourism, with a record 295 million domestic tourists during the five-day holiday in May, up more than 20% from 2019.
According to Cirium, the world's leading aviation data analytics company, ticket sales on domestic Chinese airlines increased by 16% in May compared to the same period in 2019, when the pandemic had not yet broken out, while international flights decreased by 30%.
According to Oliver Wyman expert Imke Wouters, 40% of Chinese tourists who went abroad in 2023 when borders reopened, decided not to travel abroad in 2024 mainly due to the inconvenience and long visa processing times to enter many European countries.
In contrast, countries implementing visa-free policies for Chinese tourists have recorded strong growth in the number of Chinese visitors, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Saudi Arabia./.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/trung-quoc-du-lich-nuoc-ngoai-phuc-hoi-cham-hon-du-bao-post959613.vnp
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