A number of events coming up in Singapore are likely to appeal to Chinese delegates. Photo Credit: Adobe Stock/efired
The Southeast Asia region is set to benefit from an influx of Chinese
visitors, now that China has opened its doors to international travel.
A
number of countries within the region, such as Singapore, Thailand,
Indonesia and Cambodia, are making it easy for travellers from China to
visit, by not imposing pre-departure tests and regarding them like any
other traveller, unlike countries in other regions.
Japan, the UK, the US, France and Germany, on the other hand, are
just some of the countries that require Chinese travellers to take a
Covid test prior to boarding aircraft bound for those destinations.
China officially reopened its borders on 8 January, with data from Trip.com showing a spike in outbound flight bookings from China for destinations such as Singapore and Thailand.
Singapore is hosting a number of events in the coming months that
will appeal to Chinese delegates, including China’s Machinery and
Electronics Show in Singapore, taking place in March and Vinexpo Asia in
May.
Both of these events will be held in Singapore for the first time,
marking the launch of their Asia Pacific editions. Other events of
interest to the Chinese MICE industry include BuiltTech Asia, Asia Tech x
Singapore and IAAPA Expo Asia.
The first Chinese visitors to Thailand, meanwhile, were greeted by
ministers and the destination recently scrapped newly-introduced vaccine
certificate requirements, announced only last week, as it said this
would likely deter travellers.
Indonesia said it would be rolling out the ‘red carpet’ for visitors from China.
A number of Chinese airlines have also said they will increase the
number of flights to Southeast Asian destinations, to meet the expected
hike in demand.