Thai tourists flock to China amid "ban on Korea" trend
2024-08-13
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Our correspondent in Thailand Zhang Jinruo Our reporter Ni Hao ● Ren ZhongIn 2019 before the pandemic, influenced by K-Pop, Korean dramas and other Korean culture, the number of Thai tourists to South Korea reached a record high of 572,000, making it the country with the most tourists to South Korea in the ASEAN region. However, the enthusiasm of Thai tourists for South Korea seems to have cooled down recently. A report in the Nikkei Asian Review on the 11th stated that Thai tourists seemed to be affected by the social media hashtag "Ban Travel to South Korea", and Thai tourists now prefer to travel to China and Japan instead of South Korea."No entry into Korea" label"Last year, I was rejected by Korean immigration and sent back to Bangkok immediately," Koksuwan, a 42-year-old housekeeper from the northeastern province of Kalasin, told Nikkei Asian Review. "I never want to go to Korea again. This was the most stressful trip I've ever taken. I have a very bad impression of Korea."College student Shi Ya told the Global Times reporter in Thailand on the 12th that in recent years, not only have Thais encountered a high number of visa rejections when traveling to South Korea, but they have also been unable to obtain reasonable and clear explanations for the rejections, and many Thais have expressed their dissatisfaction online.Japanese media also mentioned that South Korea's strict entry inspections even turned away some Thais who had obtained electronic pre-approval to arrive in South Korea. These Thai tourists were unable to recover their air tickets, hotels or travel prepayments, resulting in losses of hundreds or even thousands of dollars. To make matters worse, South Korean customs officials stamped their passports with entry denial stamps, making it more difficult for them to enter other countries. South Korea blames the problem on illegal workers from Thailand.In the last quarter of last year, the topic with the tag "No entry to Korea" began to spread on social media X, triggering a series of anti-Korean sentiments. For a time, millions of articles with the topic "No travel to Korea" appeared on Thai social media. The topic of "boycotting Korea" is on the hot search trend of Thai social media almost every month.On July 30, South Korea's tourism department announced that the number of Thai tourists visiting South Korea last month decreased by 19.5% from 20,000 in the same period last year, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline.“China’s Tourism Temptation”Under this circumstance, many Thai tourists have turned to China and Japan, especially China, which has attracted a large number of Thai tourists. According to survey data from well-known travel companies Nidnoi Travel and Travelzeed, the most popular destination for Thais at the end of this year is China.Yutachai, vice-president of the Thai Outbound Tourism Association (TTAA), said that in addition to having more attractions, China also offers several non-tourism temptations for Thais - visa-free entry and cheaper options, as well as China's "great scenery and good atmosphere".Kandil, who works at the Tourism Authority of Thailand and is mainly responsible for connecting with the Chinese affairs market, told the Global Times reporter in Thailand that the number of Thais traveling to China has increased significantly this year. "The convenient visa-free policy, the travel cost without a very high budget, and the trendy Chinese travel are all advantages of traveling to China."The owner of Nidnoi revealed that although Thais have a reduced budget due to the economic situation, China's visa-free policy has given Thai tourists more options. According to TTAA estimates, since China exempted entry visas on March 1 this year, 1.2 million Thais will travel to China this year, almost double the number in 2019.TTAA chairman Chaeng said that under the current circumstances, China has become the most popular tourist destination for Thais because travel packages can "fight price wars."Yuttachai said the four-day trip to China cost about 22,000 baht (4,460 yuan) per person, lower than the 30,000 baht (6,108 yuan) per person cost for a similar trip to South Korea.A staff member of Thaisiri Travel Agency in Thailand told the Global Times that the cost of traveling to China is much lower than that of traveling to South Korea. More importantly, "China has too many beautiful natural landscapes and cultural and historical sites worth visiting, which are very attractive to Thai tourists."Mr. Tanapong, Vice Chairman of TTAA and Managing Director of Quality Express Travel Company, said that China's tourist destinations are rich and diverse and the travel safety is relatively high. For example, travel packages such as Zhangjiajie-Avatar Filming Location-Changsha, Jiuzhaigou-Chengdu, Kunming-Dali-Lijiang are affordable and very popular among Thai tourists. The Korea Herald commented that the number of Thai tourists coming to South Korea is decreasing, but their interest in traveling to China is increasing. Currently, other Asian countries that compete with South Korea for the tourism industry are benefiting from it. "South Korea's tourism industry lost to Japan before, and now it has lost to China."Trendy IP goes viral to attract touristsNot only that, the boom in Chinese trendy toys such as Pop Mart's Labubu doll in Thailand and the global popularity of many Chinese designer bags have further boosted Thai people's enthusiasm for traveling to China.At Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thais returning from China always carry large and small bags of toys and goods purchased from China, and actively display their travel "results" on the Internet and write purchase guides. Thais also flocked to the domestic Pop Mart live broadcast room, and even made a special trip to the domestic offline store just to buy Labubu. On China's second-hand trading platform Xianyu, sellers will receive orders from Thai buyers who communicate transactions through translators. Although sometimes the translation wording in the communication makes Chinese sellers feel amused, it does reflect the popularity of Chinese trendy toys and Chinese products in Thailand.Data shows that with growing demand, Thai Airways has increased the number of flights to China from 7 to 11 per week, especially flights to and from Beijing, Shanghai and Kunming, Yunnan.Zhang Lingyun, a tourism expert and distinguished professor at Beijing Union University, said in an interview with the Global Times on the 12th that cultural IP plays an increasingly important role in promoting tourism and attracting tourists. China has always attracted a large number of tourists with its natural and cultural landscapes such as mountains, rivers, scenic spots and historical sites, and has also enhanced the tourism experience with its perfect infrastructure and convenient payment methods. Building cultural IP can further tap the potential of Chinese tourism, enhance the attractiveness of Chinese tourism, and further expand the space of the Chinese tourism market.Zhang Lingyun believes that "China's 5,000-year-old civilization has never lacked cultural materials and has a large number of popular characters. We have upgraded and refined them into cultural symbols and created a treasure trove of cultural IPs that are loved by tourists all over the world. These are our advantages and the direction that Chinese tourism urgently needs to develop. I believe that a new force will be formed in promoting the development of the tourism market and boosting the consumer economy with cultural IPs."However, Zhang Lingyun also reminded that cultural IP is usually combined with social fashion and popular culture, and it is important to pay attention to continuous innovation. Therefore, in attracting tourists, especially overseas tourists, with cultural IP, we should pay attention to deeply exploring the integration of overseas tourists' consumption psychology and Chinese culture. ▲
