Friday 29 Mar 2024
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Singapore and South Korea are expected to be the most successful countries in this region to lure tourists from China during the Chinese New Year period amid global competition for Chinese travellers.

China’s outbound travellers, who spent US$140 billion (RM504.3 billion) last year, are estimated to exceed 100 million this year. “Inbound destination marketers around the world are now competing for attention from this lucrative segment,” said Wego Pte Ltd in a statement.

James Huang, Wego’s market development manager for North Asia, said in the statement, “I expect Singapore and South Korea, both of which have simplified the visa process [for Chinese travellers], to lead destination choices this Chinese New Year holiday.”

He noted that Singapore has the attraction of great shopping and local language, while South Korea has aggressively marketed the “Korea Grand Sales” shopping festival, which will take place during the Chinese New Year period.

“Along with the Chinese fascination with the country’s local pop culture, South Korea is likely to be the destination of choice this year,” Huang said. He believes the key to attracting Chinese travellers is making the travel process simple and catering for specific interests and needs.

According to Wego, a leading travel search site in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, relaxation of visa restrictions, food and wine tours, pop stars and even social media competitions by tourism bodies are some of the methods employed by destination marketers to catch the attention of Chinese tourists.

Huang noted that Indonesia recently removed China from the list of nationalities required to purchase a visa on arrival to attract Chinese tourists. The US and China entered into reciprocal visa extension agreements for short-term business and tourist travel last November, while India allowed Chinese nationals to apply for visa on arrivals online.

Thailand, a long-time favourite destination of the Chinese, has also removed visa fees. Australia is luring the Chinese with seafood and wine promotions, as well as its natural beauty and wildlife.

In the US, hotels are sending their sales representatives to China to learn basic Mandarin and customs, such as changing room numbers associated with bad luck in the Chinese culture and serving congee, noodles and Chinese tea. Chinese-speaking guides are being provided by large shopping malls and local payment system China UnionPay is becoming more widely available.

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