Why Vietnam should Care about How Much Chinese Tourists Splurge

VNExpress International (Vietnam)

12 December 2016

As more Chinese travel around the world, they leave bigger impacts wherever they go.

Now experts say for countries that receive a large number of Chinese arrivals, including Thailand and Vietnam, their economic growth will be influenced by the spending habits of these visitors.

A 30 percent increase in spending by Chinese tourists would boost Vietnam’s gross domestic product by nearly 1 percentage point, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing Credit Suisse. For Thailand, that would be around 1.6 points.

Vietnam’s economy is expected to expand 6 percent this year, before speeding up to 6.8 percent next year.

Mainland China accounted for 30 percent of all tourists to Vietnam, with more than 2.48 million coming in the first 11 months this year, up 54 percent from the same period last year. It was the biggest source market, and only came after Hong Kong in terms of growth.

… Harry Sa, a research analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told Bloomberg that “China can do wonders for the economy and the countries in the region understand.”

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