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According to the global network quoted Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao" news, Singapore and China on December 7 in Tianjin held a meeting of the Singapore-China Bilateral Cooperation Joint Committee (JCBC), Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Huang Xuncai revealed at the meeting that on the basis of the increasing number of flights between New Zealand and China, the two sides will strengthen personnel exchanges through 30-day mutual visa waiver arrangement.
Ctrip data show that after the announcement of the news, as of 13:00 on December 7, the search volume of Singapore increased by 80% in the hour before the announcement, the search volume of air tickets increased by 90%, and the search volume of hotels increased by 5%. According to the same travel data, as of 14:00 on December 7, tourism attention in Singapore increased by 18% compared with the same period the day before, of which users in Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang and other provinces and cities paid the most attention.
On the Qunar platform, direct flights between Beijing and Singapore in December cost 1,200 yuan, Shanghai - Singapore 950 yuan, Hangzhou - Singapore 790 yuan, Guangzhou - Singapore 860 yuan, and Xiamen - Singapore 1110 yuan. At the same time, searches for Universal Studios Singapore tickets on Qunar's platform increased 40% month-on-month.
Singapore is a popular destination for Chinese outbound tourists and an important source of inbound tourists. Data show that from January to September 2023, the number of Chinese tourists entering Singapore reached 1 million, recovering to 35% of the same period in 2019, and returning to the second place in Singapore's list of inbound tourist sources. In 2023, on the same platform, Singapore ranked among the top five popular outbound destinations for Chinese tourists.
Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, the three "New Malaysia-Thailand" countries located in Southeast Asia, have been popular destinations for Chinese tourists. Since the beginning of this year, flights in Southeast Asia have recovered rapidly, which has driven ticket prices down to about 1,000 yuan, further increasing the cost performance of these three countries.
According to data from Airbnb, the search popularity of Chinese users planning to travel abroad during the Spring Festival holiday has soared more than 14 times year-on-year, with Thailand and Malaysia both in the top 10 outbound destinations this winter.
Thailand announced a five-month visa-free policy for Chinese tourists on Sept 13, covering the National Day Golden Week and next year's Spring Festival holiday. Malaysia has also implemented visa-free measures for Chinese citizens within 30 days of entry since December 1.
All three countries will be visa-free for Chinese tourists after Singapore said it would do so.
However, Thailand, the earliest visa-free country, did not usher in an outbreak of Chinese tourists. About 3.01 million Chinese tourists have visited Thailand this year, and between 3.4 million and 3.5 million Chinese tourists are expected for the whole year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said on Nov. 24. Earlier this year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand predicted that 5.3 million to 7 million Chinese tourists would visit Thailand in 2023, far below the original target.
As the passenger flow did not meet expectations and the ticket booking situation was not optimistic, only part of the approved China-Thailand planned flights were converted into actual flights.
In March this year, Thailand was caught in negative rumors such as "kidney" and telecom fraud and trafficking, and once became a "dangerous country" that was daunting. On October 3, shortly after the visa exemption, a shooting incident occurred in the Siam Belle Palace shopping Mall in Bangkok, Thailand, in which a Chinese citizen was killed and another Chinese citizen was injured. Recently, there have been a number of disfigured Chinese beggars on the streets of Bangkok, suspected to be related to human trafficking. These incidents have exacerbated the negative impact on tourism in Thailand, and it is difficult for the visa-free incentives to play a significant role.
Xiao Peng, a researcher at the Big Data Research Institute of Where To, analyzed that after Malaysia announced visa-free travel to China, the growth of tourists in Malaysia was not obvious. Once Singapore is visa-free, the playability of this line can be increased, extending the three-day tour from Malaysia to 5-6 day tour in Singapore and Malaysia, and tourists will be more cost-effective for a single outbound tour. Singapore and Malaysia, located in tropical regions, are expected to be popular destinations for Chinese New Year.
At present, Ctrip has launched the Spring Festival outbound tourism special activities, the line of a number of travel routes including Singapore, the recent departure from Beijing, Singapore + Malaysia 6 days with the minimum from 2744 yuan.
The launch of the visa-free policy in Singapore and Malaysia may further divert Chinese tourists to Thailand, and the three countries will "compete" for Chinese tourists during the Spring Festival.
