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| A Thai food festival in Bangkok in July attracts a huge audience. GAO JIANJUN/XINHUA |
Southeast Asian countries continue to lure Chinese tourists. But fewer are answering their call. Erik Nilsson reports.
The relative decline of Chinese tourists to Southeast Asia is to an extent a story of paradise lost-but is perhaps more so a testament to new paradises found.
Outbound Chinese travel to the region has plummeted this year-by nearly 40 percent in Singapore's case.
Discussion surrounding the startling drop-the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' five-year tourism development plan is aimed toward Chinese and Indian visitor influxes-h(huán)as largely honed in on a new, perceived undesirability of old favorite destinations.
Media point to territorial disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam; the disappearance of flight MH370; Thailand's instability; and Singapore losing influence as a gateway to aforementioned destinations.
That's all true.
But insiders explain the bigger picture is the otherwise changing dynamics of China's outbound tourism.
The United Nations World Travel Organization's Asia-Pacific director Xu Jing calls the widely reported view of a decline of Chinese tourists to the region a "misconception".
"There's a slowing of growth rates to some destinations," he says.
"But if you're talking about sheer volume, it remains large. Southeast Asia is still a big slice of the cake. It's still a very attractive destination. Take the natural beauty with the cultural component of travel-Southeast Asia will remain a major destination for Chinese."
Xu believes the relative reduction is more about the outbound Chinese market's maturation and new countries better courting it.
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