Destinations known | Chinese tourists name Russia on list of most desired destinations, but when will people in China actually be able to travel internationally again?
- Southeast Asia, Europe and Japan also on the list, part of a McKinsey survey that found Chinese desire for overseas travel has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels
- But outbound leisure tourism is the last priority of the Chinese government, the report adds, behind international business travel and domestic tourism
Asian, European, Klingon or Na’vi. It probably doesn’t matter much to many of those who rely on the tourism industry for a living, just so long as tourists of some description return – preferably bearing well-stuffed wallets.
And – after two long years of Covid-19 restrictions – tourists are returning, as destinations from Paris to Phuket prepare for a northern summer approaching something describable as “normal”.
However, among the major differences to 2019 will be the mix of international tourists, with two large groups set to be conspicuous by their absence: Russians and Chinese.
The former have found doors shut to them following their country’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the main hurdles being that Visa and Mastercard are refusing to deal with Russian customers.
“Countries like Cuba, Indonesia, Thailand […] have welcomed an ever-growing number of Russian tourists,” reports German broadcaster DW. “The Maldives, Seychelles and Sri Lanka have also attracted more and more guests from Russia.”