'More the merrier': Asia tourist 中心s ready for 中国 influx
Chinese tourists are 推定する／予想するd to once again fill popular Tokyo tourist 場所／位置s like the Sensoji 寺 thanks to 最近の changes to Covid 支配するs
In Tokyo's Asakusa tourist 地区, caricaturist Masashi Higashitani is dusting off his Chinese as he 準備するs for an influx of travellers after Beijing ends inbound 検疫 支配するs.
"We used to say 'ni hao' all the time," he said with a laugh as he whipped up a portrait in minutes.
Nearly 9.6 million Chinese visited Japan in 2019, the biggest group of foreign tourists by far and a 大規模な leap from the 450,000 who （機の）カム in 2003.
Higashitani 見積（る）s around 20 パーセント of his 顧客s were from 中国 before the pandemic, and he and his 従業員s 選ぶd up Chinese phrases from those 訪問者s and each other.
He had to downsize and let staff go during the pandemic, so he is thrilled about the 推定する／予想するd wave of arrivals, even though he 収容する／認めるs some 逮捕 to o.
Women wearing Japanese kimonos walk through the Nakamise shopping street 近づく Tokyo's Sensoji 寺 on Thursday
"I wonder if an influx of too many of them might 圧倒する our capacity. I'm also worried that we need to be more careful about anti-ウイルス 対策," he told AFP.
Travellers arriving 支援する in 中国 will no longer need to 検疫 from Sunday, 除去するing one of the main 障壁s to travel for the country's 全住民.
The move, 発表するd in late December, 誘発するd a frenzy of trip planning, with searches spiking for Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and South Korea.
Chinese tourists also made up about a third of all pre-pandemic foreign 訪問者s to South Korea and were の中で the 最高の，を越す three groups visiting Thailand and Indonesia.
- 'Not the time' -
The 低迷 in Chinese 訪問者s during the pandemic has 攻撃する，衝突する South Korea's 観光旅行，事業 産業 hard, a culture 公式の／役人 省 said
At a crepe stand in ソウル, Son Kyung-rak said he was already making 計画（する）s to を取り引きする a flood of tourists from 中国.
"We're looking to 雇う and 準備するing to 在庫／株 up," the 24-year-old told AFP in ソウル's popular downtown Myeongdong 地区.
"Chinese tourists are our main 顧客s, so the more the merrier."
But 当局 in ソウル are more 用心深い.
The 低迷 in Chinese 訪問者s "has been a blow to our 観光旅行，事業 産業", said Yun Ji-suk, an 公式の／役人 from South Korea's culture 省.
"But now is not the time to be active in 観光旅行，事業 marketing, 予定 to the 現在進行中の Covid 状況／情勢."
中国's sudden 解除するing of pandemic 制限s has led to a 大規模な wave of 感染s, but Beijing's 拒絶 to 株 （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） means the 規模 of the 殺到する is 不明瞭な.
It has been enough to spook 政府s around the world, with some countries even banning arrivals from 中国.
ソウル is capping flights from 中国, and travellers from the 本土／大陸, Hong Kong and Maca u will have to 実験（する） 消極的な before travel. 本土／大陸 訪問者s will also be 実験（する）d on arrival.
Japan has 発表するd 類似の 支配するs for 中国, although Hong Kong and Macau travellers are 免除された.
- '十分な house' -
Indonesia is の中で the countries that is 課すing no 制限s on travellers from 中国
Other Asian tourist 中心s such as Indonesia have decided not to 課す any 制限s.
Two million Chinese tourists visited 毎年 before the pandemic, and restaurant owners on the 訴える手段／行楽地 island of Bali are hoping for a 回復する.
"Before the pandemic, we had a lot of Chinese 顧客s... At least 100 to 200 顧客s （機の）カム daily," Kadek Sucana, who runs a seafood restaurant in the Jimbaran area, told AFP.
He is hoping for a "十分な house again... because Chinese tourists come in large groups".
While Beijing has 緩和するd many of its Covid 制限s, overseas travel by 小旅行する groups remains banned.
And there is little 調印する that the availability of fligh ts will quickly catch up to 新たにするd 需要・要求する.
中国 has been Thailand's largest source of tourists for a number of years now
As a result, travel 目的地s throughout Asia are 推定する／予想するing any 回復する in Chinese tourists to be slow.
Indonesia is 目的（とする）ing for just over 250,000 Chinese tourists in 2023, a fraction of pre-pandemic 人物／姿／数字s.
Thailand, which is also not 課すing new 支配するs, is hoping for around five million Chinese tourists this year, いっそう少なく than half the number who （機の）カム in 2019.
観光旅行，事業 accounted for nearly 20 パーセント of Thailand's 国民所得 before the pandemic, with 中国 its largest source of foreign tourists.
"This is an 適切な時期 to 回復する our 経済的な 状況／情勢 and 回復する from losses we 苦しむd for nearly three years," Thai Public Health 大臣 Anutin Charnvirakul Anutin said Thursday.
burs-sah/pbt/cwl
