Asian countries troubled by the lack of tourists from China

Asia is gradually loosening the rules for entry, and individual countries and regions are gradually reopening to tourists from all over the world. However, even with the influx of passengers from all over the world, the continent is troubled by the lack of tourists from China, who were key to tourism in Asia before the pandemic. China, one of the most important countries for global tourism, still maintains very strict conditions in terms of entry and exit. International air capacity currently stands at about two percent of what it used to be before the pandemic, not least because China still has zero tolerance for covid. Tourism thus lacks about $ 255 billion a year, an amount that the Chinese spend on average on travel. The money is most lacking in various Asian countries, such as Thailand, whose resort of Phuket was a popular destination for Chinese tourists. According to Ravi Chandran, CEO of the Phuket Lagoon Luxury Resort Group, Thais are currently trying to attract tourists from Europe, the United States and the United Arab Emirates. However, Chandran himself still hopes that Chinese tourists will return to Phuket, as they accounted for 25 to 30% of all its profits and earned a total of about 50 billion a year for Thailand. "But so far we do not feel that anything should change and China would let tourists come to us again. That's why we haven't done any promotions or marketing campaigns to attract Chinese travelers yet, "Chandran told Reuters. Thailand hopes to receive 180,000 foreign tourists this year, a fraction of the approximately 40 million it received in 2019, as it has opened places outside tourists in Phuket since November.