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A China lesson for Jokowi and all ASEAN Summiteers: Welcome but diversify!
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As China’s tourism impact grows and ASEAN destinations, including in Indonesia, design campaigns to attract Chinese visitors, they must be weary of over dependence on any single source of tourists. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
I
ndonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo might well bring a different kind of message back to Jakarta if he takes time to ponder the ebb and flow, and the positive and negative consequences, of large numbers of tourists from China traveling to Thailand and across Southeast Asia.
As Thailand’s capital city gears up for the 35th ASEAN Summit and related summits and meetings, including the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, the slogan here and elsewhere when it comes to Chinese tourists, should be, “Welcome! but diversify.” That’s a lesson that Indonesia’s tourism industry should also take to heart.
Amid ongoing concerns about the impact of the ongoing United States-China trade war on the region including on travel, Thailand’s tourism industry recently received a bit of good news that Jakarta can only dream of. The Thai capital city has once again been named the “most visited” city in the world, for the fourth year running, in Mastercard's Global Destination Cities Index 2019.
This repeat top ranking for Bangkok came despite a slowdown in the number of tourist arrivals in the country from China last year. This followed a tragic tour boat accident in Phuket in July 2018 involving Chinese tourists as well as already emerging worries that a slowing Chinese economy would lead to more and more Chinese travelers switching to domestic Chinese travel.
According to Mastercard’s 2019 Global Destination Cities Index, Bangkok attracted some 22.7 million international visitors making the city the top destination for global travelers. Paris came second with 19.1 million visitors, followed by London (19.01 million), Dubai (15.93 million) and Singapore (14.67 million), Mastercard’s annual ranking is based on international visitor volume and spend at the 200 largest cities in the world, counting both business and vacation travelers in the prior year.
Yet, a number one ranking in international tourist arrivals should not detract from what remains the need for every Southeast Asian tourist destination including those in Indonesia to both welcome and diversify away from Chinese tourists. The need for diversification is underscored by China’s track record of using its own Chinese travelers’ spending as a means to “punish” governments whose policies it disagrees with.
The drive to capture more Chinese tourist dollars is understandable. China is now the world’s largest outbound tourism market according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the United Nations agency in charge of promoting sustainable and responsible tourism, making the country a major player in the international travel market.
