For subscribers
What happened to all those Chinese tourists?
India could help save South-east Asia’s tourism industry as the steady stream of vacationers from the world’s second-largest economy turns into a trickle.
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
China was once the world’s most plentiful source of international tourists, and South-east Asia was among their top destinations.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Adam Minter
Follow topic:
Before Covid-19, Malaysia’s luxury mall beneath Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Towers echoed with the sound of Chinese tourists and their dialects. But recently, during a busy dinner hour, they were missing. Din, the mall’s outlet of famous Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung, a favourite of Chinese tourists, was half-full with local Malaysians and Middle Eastern customers. When I asked a cashier whether they had served many Chinese lately, she shook her head with a tight smile.
That is a problem.
