, Columnist
What Happened to All Those Chinese Tourists?
India could help save Southeast Asia's tourism industry as the steady stream of vacationers from the world's second-largest economy turns into a trickle.
Southeast Asia’s tourism industry is suffering without Chinese visitors. Photographer: Greg Baker
Photographer: GREG BAKER/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
Before Covid, Malaysia’s luxury mall beneath Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Towers echoed with the sound of Chinese tourists and their dialects. But recently, during a busy dinner hour, they were missing. Din, the mall’s outlet of famous Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung, a favorite of Chinese tourists, was half-full with local Malaysians and Middle Eastern customers. When I asked a cashier whether they had served many Chinese lately, she shook her head with a tight smile.
That’s a problem.