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China Tourism Tuesday Episode 29
10 Plays1 month ago
On this week’s episode, we’re diving into the big shifts shaping winter and Christmas travel for Chinese tourists. Russia has suddenly emerged as one of the hottest outbound destinations, even overtaking longtime favourites like Singapore and the UK, thanks to its brand-new visa-free policy for Chinese travellers.
Meanwhile, diplomatic tensions with Japan have caused a sharp drop in China-to-Japan travel, pushing a new wave of tourists back toward Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, although Thailand’s recent airport tax increase is raising a few eyebrows. The Philippines, Malaysia, and Cambodia are also seeing renewed momentum, even as Thailand and Cambodia find themselves once again navigating border tensions.
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to China Tourism Tuesday, a discussion of marketing outbound tourism destinations in the China travel markets. My name is Charles Baten and I'm coming to you from Shanghai, China.
00:00:12
Speaker
Good day, everybody. My name is Michael Jones and I'm coming to you from a rainy Amsterdam. Cool. So, Charles, a bunch of things
Tourism Market Trends in Asia
00:00:19
Speaker
are happening this week. It looks like, especially in the the Asian region, there's a lot of flux in the market as we're coming through now to the end of the year.
00:00:29
Speaker
Yes. So let's just go through some of those things, there some of those topics. And then, yeah, I think it'd be great if you could also chat to our listeners and discuss a little bit what's happening, the latest trends on Red Note.
00:00:44
Speaker
Sure. Absolutely. Cool. So let's begin with the the the it's a bit of a dated story already, but it's interesting it will change and trend towards
Impact of Political Issues on Tourism
00:00:57
Speaker
2026. Japan. So Japan has always been the highlight of Chinese outbound tourism. I mean, they were in pole position, something between 20 to 25% of Japan's total inbound tourism ah tourism came from China. Since the political gaffe by the new prime minister,
00:01:16
Speaker
um There were 540,000 flight tickets that were cancelled since mid-November, a number of 1,900 flights.
00:01:27
Speaker
I mean, this is truly, truly significant. we're We're looking at serious numbers of cancellations due to political must mischievous and mischievousness. and yeah And so then the question is, where are these Chinese chineseurists now going to go There's been some quite a few articles in the media about it, but I mean i think that most people
Vietnam's Strategy to Capture Chinese Tourists
00:01:52
Speaker
follow the market. It's it's the...
00:01:54
Speaker
It is the standard suspects. Absolutely, South Korea is going to benefit from this. Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. My gut feeling is that Vietnam is going to disproportionately benefit from this just because they are from a lower base yeah and it is becoming a lot more attractive. ah Vietnam was a bit of a let's say, unpopular destination for Chinese tourists over the last 20 years. They have also got their own frictions. But that has definitely changed.
00:02:27
Speaker
Vietnam, for the first 11 months of this year, had recorded 4.8 million Chinese tourists, which was about 25% of the total inbound. I mean, that those are numbers that have never really been reached before between China and Vietnam. So that's going to be really interesting.
00:02:48
Speaker
um But then number two on the list, Thailand as a potential beneficiary. Now, I mean, as everybody has seen in the media, Thailand and Cambodia have ah rekindled and restarted their war.
00:03:03
Speaker
um So that is unfortunately also going to have a bit of a drag on increased interest over the past year to for Chinese tourism to Thailand.
00:03:14
Speaker
So we'll also have to see how that plays out. Naturally, people do accept the fact that these are borderline a border regions. and These are not the main tourism areas at all.
00:03:26
Speaker
um But nevertheless, we'll have to see how that pans out over the next few months. Then on the reciprocal side of that Cambodia, Cambodia is also naturally going to suffer from this from this renewed war with Thailand.
00:03:43
Speaker
But interestingly, Vietnam is also trying their level best to attract as many Chinese tourists as possible. They've announced that they're going to have a ah pilot a pilot program running from the 15th of June till the 15th of October next year in 2026, where there will be a visa-free scheme for Chinese tourists.
Diplomatic Relations and Tourism Opportunities
00:04:04
Speaker
So clearly they're taking off the Chinese market very, very seriously. But again, due to this conflict, we'll have to see how how this all pans out later on next year. sure Then the next one in the region is...
00:04:19
Speaker
India. So we all know about how India and China have found commonplace ah in their diplomatic relations again. So the visa system has been been fixed, so to speak, or at least has been improved significantly. I have heard that there's that there's still some delays and still not incredibly incredibly easy, but but way better than in the past.
00:04:47
Speaker
um So by the early 2026, we are expecting to see about 35,000 to 40,000 Chinese tourists going to India. Now, it needs to be said that that is a far, far cry from the height of 340,000 Chinese tourists to India in 2019.
00:05:07
Speaker
But again, this is just going to take confidence. So this is going to be an interesting space of growth touching wood. um Then I think for the others closer to home in Southern Africa, South Africa has now also launched what they call an ETA visa system. That is an ah electric travel authorization.
00:05:31
Speaker
And this is... ah for the context of this conversation primarily focused on China. it does include other markets like India. But after the South Africa's successful hosting of the G20 summit recently, that's where they piloted this program and it worked. So now Chinese consumers FIT travelers, they can apply for this ETA and it's apparently a two to three day maximum processing time.
00:06:06
Speaker
So this is going to be really, really fantastic for FIT travel to South Africa. They won't have to rely on the previous, which was also good system, but they won't have to rely on the TTOS system where you apply as part of a tour operator, as part of group visas.
Russia's Rising Popularity Among Chinese Tourists
00:06:24
Speaker
So this is going to be a real boon for tourism from China to South Africa.
00:06:30
Speaker
And um yes, I think the other one that... We also wanted to talk a little bit about, and maybe you can tell me a little bit more, is with interest in Russia as a destination.
00:06:43
Speaker
Absolutely. um Yeah, who would have predicted this years ago? But just from some of the analysis work that we do on Red Note on Xiaohongshu, so fairly frequently, we like to kind of look at what's trending, what are the top topics that are trending sort of in in the travel space under the travel broad classification of content on Red Note. um So maybe we can just kind of run through what's what's top. And I'll show you where Rush is kind of sitting. It is definitely within the top 10, which is, um and I would say, probably within the top five of total destinations. So um for destinations, Japan is still leading.
00:07:28
Speaker
um Obviously, this is the retrospective data, still a little bit lagging and dragging. so Japan is at the top. Japan was still up until recently, um enjoying incredible brand strength. um followed at 11 million, followed by Korea, 7 million, and then by Malaysia. Now, Malaysia, I think we can also kind of um keep our eyes on as being the next big recipient of Chinese tourists, I think, or maybe more than they they they have historically.
00:07:59
Speaker
um especially now that Thailand is kind of, I think they're hiking their airport tax by about 65% as well. So that should also hurt that a little bit. And then lo and behold, comes Russia at 4.2 million views. um I'm assuming it's because Hashtag Christmas, 24 million views. Hashtag winter, 7 million views. Hashtag snow, 3.8 million views. Maybe hashtag saving money, 3.5 million views has something to do with it But Russia, 4.2 million views over the last 30
00:08:32
Speaker
Above England, above Singapore, these are both are around 3 million views. Above France, even above Thailand.
00:08:42
Speaker
So that is something that, I mean, you know far from a far from it sort of for me to be from claiming that the hashtag on Red Note is a leading indicator of what's going to be the next absolutely viral destination. But I am kind of saying that because you know these are the most influential, and I keep saying this again and again until I'm blue in the face, these are the most influential, first-tier city, wealthiest um Chinese consumers, and not just in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong. This is Vancouver. This is the Bay Area. This is New York. this is um ah Melbourne and Sydney's um chinese ah overseas Chinese ah communities, which have great spending power. So um now, if we maybe can just pivot a bit to the why.
00:09:35
Speaker
Russia now obviously has a 30-day visa-free regime, um as do we South Africans. But we get 90 days. The Chinese get 30 days. But still, um there's just a, now this is nothing to kind of um like kind of stake your the future of your business on or or make any big bets on. But I do get the sense, anecdotally,
00:09:59
Speaker
from Russians that I'm speaking to just around is that Russia, um you know Russian municipal and, shall we say, oblast provincial governments are beginning to kind of come around on the idea of, you know, maybe we should do a little bit more in the line of China to operate relations. Maybe I'm just manifesting this in the hope that it comes true.
00:10:22
Speaker
but Moscow Tourism Board has an official red note. Now, it's still early days for them. But I was just shocked to see that, to see that Moscow Tourism Board actually has an official red note. They are kind still learning the ropes.
00:10:40
Speaker
And you know hopefully, we can um at some point you know advise and and help them to grow bit more in the China market and in in obviously Red Note. Because the numbers speak louder than anything I could ever see say. And that is that Red Note
Key Strategies for Attracting Chinese Tourists
00:10:57
Speaker
likes Russia. Red Note wants to go to Russia.
00:10:59
Speaker
So that's that's something I would kind of want to underline in big, sort of bright marker pen. Beyond that, just to also add to what you said earlier, Michael, about um you know Vietnam, two new flights announced for Vietnam um this week, one from Ching Da, one from Haikou. That says something. you know New ones to Milan, Melbourne, and also beholden the Philippines.
00:11:25
Speaker
I'm just kind of trying to list out alternatives to you know Japan and to China. to possibly Thailand. And then, of course, Almaty in Kazakhstan. you know I think in the the previous year, I say, I want to say a year ago, Kazakhstan also had a moment um So with the with the destinations that are kind of short haul for China, they all have a moment. They all have a bit of a diplomatic spat or something something goes, sadly, goes a bit wrong, like with border conflicts and so forth.
00:11:54
Speaker
But it does seem like there's ah these these PR crises do have a half-life. I think that, generally speaking, as so as long as you can get um The storytelling right as a destination, as long as you can get the visa as easy as but as as possible and as as predictable as possible. And you know that that people can actually plan to visit the destination and have a reasonable hope of actually getting a visa. As long as you can get the some form of direct flight that's that's fairly affordable.
00:12:26
Speaker
um Some basic Chinese language service. ah you will generally see that um the destination should eventually have a moment, which will then inevitably be tainted by some PR crisis, but then that b PR crisis will pass over as well because there's just too much happening on the Chinese internet for people to be too fixated on one crisis for too long. So yeah, word of courage to Japan, um it'll all get better.
00:12:55
Speaker
Yeah, totally. And I mean, just quickly, circling back to ah Russia, what can you possibly describe for our listeners, what was the imagery that was used? I mean, you mentioned was around Christmas and stuff like that. Is it just the usual like Christmas trees and lights and Father Christmas? Oh, sorry, Santa Claus. Well, sorry, actually, they they don't have Santa Claus. They've got Father Frost then as part of the Orthodox and things like that. I mean, yeah. How did the imagery look?
00:13:26
Speaker
So for the imagery around what's going viral on Chinese social media or or for or just for Moscow? With, i mean, on Red Note about Moscow and about travel to Russia. Well, if I'm looking at right now,
00:13:41
Speaker
You know, Moscow's official presence, they've got about 34,000 followers, so it's still quite early days. um The engagement is getting it's getting there, but they you know they they could obviously be, I do get the sense that a lot of the content is sort of cross-purposed from Instagram.
00:14:00
Speaker
A lot of it is food. What they do do quite well is Chinese influencers that are based in in Moscow, that they'll they'll kind of usually see and KOL generated content.
00:14:13
Speaker
um But a lot of it is about shopping. a lot of it is about um is ah about food um and obviously natural landscapes. for In terms of your really, really viral content on Red Note, it's going to be Invariably, it's going to be about how to take um pretty photos for girls in the snow.
00:14:37
Speaker
That is, but if I had to boil down Red Note's essence into one sentence, it's it's guides on how to take pretty photos for girls.
Influencers and Cultural Exchanges
00:14:45
Speaker
That's basically, and snow is just the new setting for that.
00:14:49
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah, that's fascinating. I mean, i would also maybe on a future podcast, we can also dive dive a little deeper into talking about also like russian Russian influences in China or Russian influences inside Russia speaking Mandarin, because I don't want to don't want you to be upset with me, sha but in my experience,
00:15:14
Speaker
in China, the the people that I met, that the foreigners that spoke the best Chinese, they were either Russian or they were North American. um and i mean so So, the point am trying to make is that Russia has an incredible resource of fantastic Mandarin-speaking people. I am not saying that these are the people that are necessarily going to be the tour guides, but there are so many of them, and such a high quality of it, that that that is one area where they do not suffer.
00:15:41
Speaker
from the services aspect, as compared to other countries. We're always kind of struggling to get Chinese speaking tour guides and things like that. Russia's just got like yeah plenty. Well, because they don't have much of the ah of ah of an alternative, if we're being if we're being honest here. And I mean, look, if if if we look at South Africa,
00:16:00
Speaker
um Just sort of, if I had to take a wild guess, to find a French or a German guide in South Africa will be not too difficult because the demand's already laid on.
00:16:13
Speaker
But with Russia, and there's there's a structural barrier um in place that is kind of suppressing pretty much all... ah Europe, sort of Western European travel ah to Russia. So, you know, the the demand is also there from from China's side. So, I mean.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:16:32
Speaker
Okay, great, Charles. That's a really cool information for the week. And yeah, thank for your time. And I hope our listeners learned something. And please reach out to us if you have any questions.
00:16:42
Speaker
And wish you a great week ahead. Thanks, Michael. Thanks, listeners.