Global Times Special Correspondent Xin Bin Li Nan in Singapore and Japan】Outbound travel picks up during the Spring Festival holiday. According to the latest statistics from travel platforms such as Ma Hive, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are basically in the top three most popular outbound tours for Chinese tourists. The Global Times' correspondent in Singapore felt that Chinese tourists were seen on the streets of Singapore during this year's Spring Festival, but some attractions still seemed relatively cold compared to the pre-epidemic period. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has announced that travel agencies and online travel companies nationwide will resume operating outbound group tours and "air tickets + hotels" for Chinese citizens to the countries concerned on a pilot basis from February 6. Countries such as Singapore are preparing for the upcoming influx of Chinese tourists and are looking forward to a recovery in tourism in 2023.

　　"Hello! Good New Year!" The Cambodia-China Times reported that senior officials from Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism welcomed more than 100 Chinese tourists arriving there in Chinese on the 27th, the first batch to arrive in Sihanoukville, Cambodia after China further optimised its immigration policy.

　　Walking through Singapore's Chinatown, one can again hear the familiar dialect of visitors from all over China. "I didn't expect Singapore to be so lively in the Chinese New Year of the Rabbit." Ms Liu, a Liaoning tourist visiting Singapore, was overjoyed. She told the Global Times in the brightly lit Niu Che Shui, Singapore's Chinatown, on the evening of the first day of the Lunar New Year, "After three years of holding back because of the epidemic, our family went abroad for a spin this Chinese New Year."

　　Although Chinese tourists are returning to Southeast Asia one after another, but during the Spring Festival, the Global Times reporter in Singapore's intuitive feeling is, with the epidemic before the tourism boom, compared to the Spring Festival this year, there is a gap. According to Singapore's United Morning Post, Singapore has been one of the top 10 most popular travel destinations for Chinese tourists, with about 3.6 million Chinese tourists travelling to Singapore each year before the epidemic. With China optimising its immigration policy, Chinese tourist arrivals are expected to recover this year to between 30% and 60% of the 2019 figure.

　　During the Chinese New Year, Singapore's Marina Bay Sands shopping centre was decorated with giant rabbit decorations and more Chinese travellers were seen at local attractions, according to Singapore's New Matinee newspaper. At the Sands Mall, there were a number of customers queuing outside some of the well-known luxury brands. Inside the shop, reporters found most of the sales staff serving in Mandarin. A staff member at the shop revealed that Chinese tourists are slowly coming back, but the number is still low compared to before. Another insider said that the spending power of Chinese tourists is still there, and they spend S$20,000 to S$30,000 (S$1 is about RMB5) in some high-end boutiques, the highest spending level of all the clientele.

　　The major tourism powers are all riveted in preparation for China's upcoming liberalisation of outbound group tours. The Malaysian newspaper Nanyang Siang Pau said China will resume outbound group tours from February 6, with Malaysia among the 20 countries open for travel. According to the report, Malaysia's tourism industry will have to innovate its products to meet the "explosive" influx of Chinese tourists.

　　Malaysia's Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Teo Keng Seng said in his Lunar New Year speech on the 23rd that the country has set a target of 5 million Chinese tourists by 2023. 3.1 million Chinese tourists will be received in Malaysia in 2019. One of Malaysia's largest travel agencies, "Ziyoujia" general manager Wu Hou Wen did not take a day off during the Lunar New Year, personally led the company to "prepare". He revealed that the company intends to recruit another 10,000 drivers and guides in the near future to meet the demand of Chinese tourists, "We assess that by the end of this year, the number of Chinese tourists will exceed that of 2019".

　　"When Chinese tour groups come, they place a lot of orders and I miss the momentum that we had three years ago." In an interview with Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, the head of Phuket's "Mr Good" seafood restaurant, Chod, said that Phuket's economy was almost entirely dependent on tourism, and that the restaurant had been forced to lay off a large number of staff during the epidemic and many tourism businesses had been crippled. Now businesses on the Thai resort island of Phuket are preparing for the long-awaited return of Chinese tourists, hoping that the re-opening of China will boost their sagging business.

　　In contrast to countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, Japan and South Korea have imposed discriminatory entry measures against the Chinese. Yonhap News Agency reported on the 28th that South Korea's Central Disaster Security Countermeasures Headquarters said on the 27th that the moratorium on issuing short-term visas to South Korea for Chinese nationals would be extended until the 28th of next month.

　　Also according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan has strengthened border prevention measures against China since December 2022, requiring all people entering from China to be tested for the new crown and positive people to be observed in hotels. The report said the measures have resulted in Chinese tourists not returning to Japan this Chinese New Year, with airlines and hotels in Japan experiencing very low bookings. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines' China routes were booked in January at only 10% of the same period in 2019. The report said the expectations of the Japanese industry were again dashed as it failed to attract more tourists from China even during the peak Chinese New Year season.