China has relaxed visa restrictions in recent months in an apparent attempt to attract more tourists and investment to Japan. (Photo by Shi Yalei/VCG/Getty Images via Bloomberg) (Photographer: Shi Yalei/VCG/Getty Images via Bloomberg)
Shirley Chao
(Bloomberg) — China is regaining its status as a hotspot for tourists in Southeast Asia, lured by a new visa-free regime and easier access to the mainland’s cashless payment system, according to travel-booking platform Crook Travel Technology.
Bookings from Southeast Asia to mainland China so far in 2024 are “several times” higher than pre-pandemic levels, Klook Chief Executive Ethan Lin said in an interview at the UBS Asia Investment Conference in Hong Kong. Overall inbound travel to mainland China could fully recover to pre-COVID figures by 2025, he added.
“For some people in this region, there aren’t that many places they can go visa-free, so China has now become one of the main places they actually travel to,” Lin said.
China has relaxed visa restrictions in recent months for Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as some European countries and cruise ship passengers, in an apparent attempt to boost both tourism and investment in Japan.
Authorities have also begun to ease access to a mostly cashless payment system that is unfriendly to people without a Chinese bank account or payment app, and last week warned hotels and hostels not to turn away international guests. Many smaller Chinese accommodations refuse to let foreigners stay because they don’t have the facilities or licenses to do so.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, 82 million tourists visited China last year, back to about 56% of 2019 levels before the pandemic closed mainland China’s borders. Just 13.8 million visitors were from outside Hong Kong and Macau, about 57% below pre-COVID figures.
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