World tourism is struggling because of the absence of Chinese and Russian tourists

Nha Trang welcomes 325 Russian guests at the end of December 2021 – Photo: MINH CHIEN

Before the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic, tourists from Russia generated $ 36 billion for the world tourism industry, while visitors from China contribute about 55 billion USD in spending on tourism services, according to the newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP).

This shows the importance of Chinese and Russian tourists to the development of the world tourism economy.

However, things now tend to take a turn for the worse, as tourists from Russia and China are “stuck” in their own countries for different reasons.

According to SCMP, Russia has suffered from international sanctions after launching a special military operation in Ukraine. In particular, sanctions on Russian banks make many Russian tourists unable to use credit cards (including Visa and Mastercard) to pay.

Many countries are also indirectly affected by sanctions on Russia. For example, Turkey will receive only 2 million Russian tourists in 2022 compared to 4.7 million in 2021.

In an article published on March 22, German radio station DW said that the number of Russian visitors to Thailand’s Phuket airport has decreased by 80% since the beginning of March.

After Thailand removed the testing regulations for visitors along with other easing measures in early May, the local newspaper Phuket reported that up to 20% of Russians among foreign tourists search online about travel to Thailand.

According to DW, Vietnam’s tourism will also bear many risks from the loss of revenue from Russian tourists. Accordingly, up to 70% of hotel rooms in Nha Trang are reserved for guests from the land of birch and are at risk of being empty.

Not only Russian tourists, many tourist paradises also “miss” Chinese tourists. The outbreak of COVID-19 in some major cities in China led the country to adopt the Zero-COVID strategy (wipe out COVID in the community) with tough anti-epidemic measures, making the travel of many Chinese people difficult. becomes difficult, according to SCMP.

A 2022 survey by McKinsey, an American global management consulting firm, said that “although Chinese tourists are eager to travel, the epidemic has hindered them”.

A McKinsey survey found that 24% of Chinese tourists plan to travel to countries in the Asia-Pacific region. However, 84% of respondents said they would only travel abroad if the authorities lifted the current anti-epidemic measures.

In addition, a new study surveying 1,011 travelers by Dragon Trail Research said that zero-COVID epidemic prevention measures are the biggest obstacle to Chinese tourism. Many Chinese tourists are looking to relax the Zero-COVID policy compared to the current situation.