Southeast Asia’s tourist economies are set to be the leading beneficiaries of China’s scrapping of travel bans as they have steered clear of the COVID-19 pre-entry tests that the US, Japan and many European countries have imposed on Chinese visitors.
Such newly mobile Chinese tourists are likely to opt for “minimal hassle” and head for destinations that do not require testing, which in turn stands to benefit Southeast Asia, CIMB Private Banking economist Song Seng Wun (宋城煥) said.
“The busier regional airports are, the better it is for their economies,” he said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Southeast Asian countries — including Cambodia, Indonesia and Singapore — have not mandated COVID-19 testing for arrivals from China.
“We are not taking the stance of discriminating [against] any countries,” Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said.
Officials have downplayed health worries aired by other countries.
Singapore said it has a high population immunity, as about 40 percent of its people have been infected with COVID-19 and 83 percent have been vaccinated, while it has bolstered healthcare capacity.
Hong Kong University public health professor Karen Grepin agreed with that approach.
“Every day, countries import thousands of cases of COVID-19 from around the world,” she said.
Bali Tourism Board chairman Ida Bagus Agung Partha said the popular resort island would “increase our defense,” as workers are offered a second booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine this month.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen described other countries’ testing requirements as “propaganda” designed to “scare people.”
Meanwhile, many businesses in Japan and South Korea welcome the return of Chinese tourists.
In Tokyo’s Asakusa tourist district, caricaturist Masashi Higashitani has been practicing his Mandarin in preparation for an influx of travelers.
“We used to say ‘ni hao’ all the time,” he said with a laugh as he whipped up a portrait in minutes.
Nearly 9.6 million Chinese visited Japan in 2019, the biggest group of foreign tourists by far, and a massive leap from the 450,000 who went in 2003.
Higashitani estimated that about 20 percent of his customers were from China before the COVID-19 pandemic, and he and his employees picked up Chinese phrases from those visitors and each other.
He had to downsize and let staff go during the pandemic, so he is thrilled about the expected wave of arrivals, although he admits to some apprehension.
“I wonder if an influx of too many of them might overwhelm our capacity. I’m also worried that we need to be more careful about anti-virus measures,” he said.
Travelers arriving back in China starting tomorrow no longer need to quarantine, removing one of the main barriers to Chinese traveling abroad.
The announcement sparked a frenzy of trip planning, with online searches spiking for Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Macau and Hong Kong.
Chinese tourists made up about one-third of all pre-pandemic foreign visitors to South Korea.
At a crepe stand in Seoul, Son Kyung-rak said he was making plans to deal with a flood of tourists from China.
“We’re looking to hire and preparing to stock up,” the 24-year-old said in Seoul’s popular Myeongdong district. “Chinese tourists are our main customers, so the more the merrier.”
However, authorities in Seoul are more cautious.
The slump in Chinese visitors “has been a blow to our tourism industry,” South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official Yun Ji-suk said. “But now is not the time to be active in tourism marketing, due to the ongoing COVID situation.”
Additional reporting by AFP
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS