Travel wishlists for people all over the world can be influenced by locations, food and cultures seen in films and on TV. But sometimes a country’s reputation can turn on a knife edge, as Japan and Thailand have discovered, after falling several places in the estimation of Chinese holidaymakers.
Both destinations had enjoyed the highest spots in Chinese vacation wishlists in early 2023, according to China Trading Desk’s quarterly market sentiment reports, based on opinion polling of over 10,000 Chinese citizens the majority of whom (94%) are under 40.
Revolted by Fukushima waste
But results for the third quarter reveal that the importance Chinese people place on eating good food while they are abroad has caused them to question Japan as a place to visit. This is being put down to reports coming out of Japan about treated radioactive wastewater from Fukushima nuclear power plant being released into the Pacific Ocean in August.
Despite assurances from the World Health Organization and others that Japanese seafood is safe, for the Chinese, the nuclear wastewater story has “turned one of their most popular destinations into one of their least popular,” said Subramania Bhatt, CEO of China Trading Desk, which found that good food is the number one driver for 23% of outbound Chinese holidaymakers.
No more bets on Thailand meeting targets?
Thailand’s tourism sector meanwhile has suffered a reputational blow with would-be Chinese visitors because of plotlines in recent Chinese movies. In particular, “No More Bets”, set in an unnamed Southeast Asian country and released this August in the middle of Q3, depicts the dangers of people smuggling and online fraud through a young couple who think they are going to new jobs abroad, only to find themselves trapped in a compound in a lawless area, where they are forced to commit online scams.
Other factors such as a slow economic recovery in China and limited flights to Thailand are contributing to Thailand’s issues, and it may seem far-fetched for fictional storylines such as that in No More Bets to have such an impact on holidaymakers’ imaginations. But the United Nations has warned that such trafficking is a real problem affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
Pia Oberoi, an Asia-Pacific senior advisor on migration and human rights for the UN’s Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, has confirmed there are numerous compounds in so-called “special economic zones”, which have been effectively taken over by “transnational crime groups”. Speaking to Squawk Box Asia, she said the areas have been turned into “places where people are forced to carry out scams against other people. So we say there’s two sets of victims here […] the people that have been scammed […] but also others that are forced to take part in perpetrating these scams in the centers around the Southeast Asia region.”
Thailand had hoped to draw 28 million foreign tourists in 2023, including 4.4 million from China, by the end of the year. But it has fallen short and still needs around 1.5 million more Chinese visitors to reach its target.
“As we are entering the high season, there is a possibility but it will be hard,” Paul Pruangkarn of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has told Channel News Asia.
In perhaps a last ditch effort to meet those targets and convince would-be visitors to China that Thailand is a safe place, Thailand’s tourism chief, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, met with the Prime Minister and announced a plan ten days ago for Thai security forces to work with Chinese police in joint patrols at major tourist destinations.
She was swiftly hung out to dry by the Prime Minister and police chief, after public outrage in Thailand about the idea of Chinese police operating on their soil. Just how the country will meet its tourism targets though, remains to be seen.
