ONCE favoured as a classic itinerary for Chinese visitors to South-east Asia, interest in the Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand group tours have significantly dipped in recent years and are increasingly replaced by mono-destination programmes, inbound travel agents in these countries told TTG Asia e-Daily.
Joseph Sze, director of China, Siam Express, said the Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand package was “all the rage” 10 years ago with at least 90 per cent of Chinese tourists opting for it but this has since changed.
He said: “This (multi-country package) is still popular perhaps among Chinese tourists from the second- and third-tier cities (in China), but for repeat visitors they will likely pick just one destination to visit.”
Moreover, memory of the MH370 incident last year – in which the flight disappeared en route to Beijing with 153 Chinese nationals on board – still lingers on the minds of many Chinese, impinging on the market demand for Malaysia.
Said Sze: “There is still a negative impact on overall tourism towards these three countries (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand), so the Chinese would rather go to other countries altogether like Europe or Australia.”
As a result, group series tours to Malaysia dropped by more than half for Tongyan Travel & Tours in the wake of the MH370 incident, said its managing director Albert Tan. Business is “picking up slowly” but it is still not back to 2013 level, he added.
Likewise, Michael Chong, manager of global business at Star Holiday Mart Singapore, which saw Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand bookings decline by almost 80 per cent in the months after the incident, now receives just “a handful of occasional bookings”.
Chong added: “There are still negative feelings after the flight incident as it is still fresh in their memories so I see Chinese choosing (instead) to spend their whole trip in Singapore.”
Whilst Chinese groups “on occasion” opt for two-country tours, usually combining Malaysia and Singapore, said Bangkok-based Asian Trails’ CEO Laurent Kuenzle, the emphasis now is very much on a single country at a time.
He said: “Chinese travellers to South-east Asia focus on mono-destination tours since these are shorthaul destinations where they travel to for four to five days. It’s Thailand stand alone, Malaysia stand alone and Singapore stand alone.”
Adding to this mix is the market shift towards FIT travel as well as intensifying regional competition for the vast Chinese outbound market.
“The trend now is for clients to book online for tours to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand separately,” said Julia Shi, general manager of Diethelm Travel China. “For these three destinations, Chinese prefer to travel with their families and no more with groups.”
Jessica Yong, managing director of Yang Guang Travel & Tours Malaysia, remarked: “Every country is courting the Chinese market, giving outbound players plenty of choices. Japan and (South) Korea are hot favourites because of the weakened currencies.
“Tour prices play an important role. A five-day mono Thailand holiday is cheaper than a Singapore-Malaysia combined package,” she added.
Additional reporting by S Puvaneswary and Michael Mackey
