On January 25, the mainland and Singapore signed the Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Singapore on Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Ordinary Passports. The mutual visa exemption between the two countries will officially take effect on Chinese New Year's Eve (February 9). So far, the three countries of "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" have all completed the visa-free policy for Chinese, and the "Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand visa-free golden route" has taken shape.
The Thai government has announced that from September 25, 2023 to February 29, 2024, a temporary tourist visa exemption policy will be implemented for Chinese tourists staying for no more than 30 days. At the beginning of 2024, the Thai government stepped up again, announcing that it would implement a permanent visa-free policy for Chinese citizens from March 2024.
From 1 December 2023, Malaysia will implement a visa-free policy for Chinese citizens within 30 days of entry. Within 3 days before entering Malaysia, you need to fill in the MDAC (Malaysia Electronic Arrival Card) online and print out the hard copy of the MDAC confirmation letter to present to the immigration officer upon entry.
China is Thailand's second largest source country (the first is Malaysia), with about 3.5 million Chinese tourists visiting Thailand in 2023 and about 28.1 million tourists visiting Thailand in 2023.
Malaysia will have 26 million inbound tourists in 2023, with Singapore being Malaysia's largest source country and China ranking fourth. From January to September last year, Malaysia received about 1,037,600 Chinese tourists.
The total number of tourists visiting Singapore in 2023 will reach 11.93 million, with Indonesia being the largest source of visitors to Singapore and China ranking second. Among them, the total number of tourists from Greater China (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) is about 1.85 million.
Compared with Malaysia and Thailand, Singapore is not a large area and is not rich in tourism resources, so Singapore has been "making great innovations" in the past two years, and many new tourism projects have been launched, launching new tourism concepts such as "night tours", "suburban tours", and "health tours", some of which are specifically aimed at Chinese tourists.
Stimulated by the visa-free policy, the number of Chinese tourists going to Southeast Asian countries such as "Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand" will increase rapidly during the Spring Festival this year. In order to attract Chinese tourists, Southeast Asian countries have also made moves. The red lanterns of "Chinatown" from various countries are hung up early, and the lively dragon and lion dance performances are also indispensable. From 19 January to 8 February, Singapore will host the Festival of Bright Arts Day and Night at various locations in Singapore. In the shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in order to welcome the arrival of the Year of the Dragon in 2024, a dragon-themed New Year scene was specially created to allow Chinese tourists to feel the strong Spring Festival atmosphere in advance. The "Sound of Celebration - 2024 Happy New Year Concert" has been held at the Prince Mahidol Concert Hall in Thailand, and the concert is one of the series of activities of "Happy New Year" in Thailand.
Airlines have also encrypted routes to and from Chinese cities. Thailand's Ministry of Tourism expects Thailand to attract 195,825 visitors from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan from February 8 to 16, up 137% year-on-year, and tourism revenue is expected to reach about US$320 million, up 157% year-on-year.
The biometrics system at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, has recently malfunctioned due to a significant increase in inbound tourists, resulting in a large number of passengers stranded at the airport. This situation has undoubtedly brought unprecedented challenges to Thailand's tourism industry. The expansion of airports has also become one of the priorities of Southeast Asian countries.
Thailand will build a new satellite terminal at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport. Malaysia plans to triple the airport's capacity from the current 150 million, while Singapore aims to accommodate 75 per cent of its target capacity at 140 million. Vietnam will also invest about 29.5 billion yuan to increase the passenger capacity of Hanoi Noi Bai International Airport. Cambodia's new Phnom Penh International Airport project is 55% complete, and another airport under construction, the Quak Kong Coastal International Airport, is in its final stages.