Vietnam Overtakes Thailand as Top Travel Destination for Chinese Tourists

READ FULL ARTICLE ON Bloomberg

By K Oanh Ha, Nguyen Xuan Quynh, and Anuchit Nguyen

Published September 16, 2025

This summer, Hu Jia and her family opted to skip Thailand’s iconic beaches and ornate temples, a short flight from her home in Sichuan province. Instead, she booked a two-week trip to Vietnam amid growing Chinese concerns over Thailand’s safety.

Hu, her husband and their two school-aged sons traveled on a swank sleeper bus from the northern capital of Hanoi to coastal Danang in July.

“Vietnam has its own unique charm,” said Hu, 33, who spent just under $3,000. “I really love places that feel natural and untouched. If I get the chance, I’ll definitely come back.”

Hu and her family are among a new wave of 3.5 million arrivals from China that’s fueling Vietnam’s record tourism this year and helping to unseat Thailand as the top regional destination for mainland adventurers. Fears over scam centers and the high-profile kidnapping of a Chinese actor in January have kept tourists away from Thailand, sending its arrivals from China plummeting about 35% this year.

Vietnam’s boom is part of a major realignment in Southeast Asia’s multibillion-dollar tourism industry, coming largely at the expense of regional titan Thailand. The redirection potentially means $3.5 billion in lost revenue for Thailand that’s now going to Vietnam and other neighbors, according to China Trading Desk, which tracks Chinese travel and credit card spending. The shift is driven by a new wave of independent Chinese travelers, signaling a fundamental change in the preferences of the world’s largest travel market.

“For this new group of Chinese travelers, Vietnam offers something fresh,” said Subramania Bhatt, CEO of China Trading Desk. “Many visitors feel Vietnam is more off the track, a bit more authentic.”

Vietnam has logged a record-breaking nearly 14 million foreign arrivals so far this year, with visitors from China – its biggest source market – posting a 44% year-on-year gain through August.

Malaysia’s also seen a 35% gain in mainland visitors in the first half of the year, with airline seat capacity from China jumping nearly 50%.

The country’s new visa-free entry for Chinese nationals, along with a weaker ringgit, is expected to pull in even more mainland adventurers, said Shaharuddin Saaid, executive director of the Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners. So far, hotels are reporting stronger demand and higher occupancy rates than a year ago, he said.

Paragliding Festival

The Vietnamese government and private tour companies are focused on attracting more foreign tourists, especially those from China. Officials in the Chinese border province of Quang Ninh, for example, worked with businesses to develop paragliding and hot air balloon festivals to entice them to stay longer.

In the coastal city of Danang, big, bold Chinese characters now adorn everything from hotel entrances to street food stalls and massage parlors. Hotels are hiring Mandarin-speaking staff or using translation apps to communicate with guests.

Some are abandoning pre-pandemic chartered budget travel in which hordes of Chinese traipse through cities behind tour guides carrying flags and looking for cheap deals.

“Over 40% of Chinese are now first-time international travelers who are independent, educated and looking for authentic experiences,” Bhatt said. “They don’t want to be pushed into a bus, taken to a destination, taken to a hotel, taken to a shop where everything feels very Chinese.”

And they are increasingly willing to spend more money.

Hava Travel, a tour operator in beach cities Danang and Nha Trang, pivoted from budget travelers to boutique tourists. The agency served about 2,000 clients seeking curated experiences in August alone, a 20% spike from the start of the year.

“Our Chinese tourists are willing to pay the higher prices,” said Nguyen Ngoc Thien, Hava’s deputy general director.

At the Mercure Nha Trang Beach Hotel, nearly half of the rooms are regularly booked by Chinese visitors, said Luong Phu Hai, marketing and sales director of the Accor SA property.

High-Rollers

Across from the Crowne Plaza Danang resort that features the city’s only casino, the Viet Lam Ban Vi restaurant’s private rooms cater to high-rollers by serving up fresh seafood and hotpot with Cantonese flavors. Some of the mainland tourists are likely “big bosses” who come for work, golf and gambling, said restaurant staff. They dine in white-marbled private rooms that feature gold chandeliers. Bills often run more than $400, a typical factory worker’s monthly salary, and are paid nonchalantly.

That spending is driving the country’s tourism retail sales, which have soared about 51% this year through August compared to last year, according to market analysis firm BMI. Its analysts expect Vietnam to attract a record 22.6 million arrivals this year, topping the 2019 high of 18 million visitors.

But as Vietnam celebrates, the mood in Thailand is starkly different. In the first eight months of 2025, one-way airline seat capacity from China to Thailand fell by more than 11% year-on-year to 5.1 million, according to Cirium flight analytics.

Though visitors from the mainland still constitute Thailand’s biggest source market, their dwindling numbers contributed to a 7% drop in overall foreign visitors through August, despite strong gains from other markets like Europe and the US. Kasikorn Research Center projects Thai hotel revenues will shrink by 4.5% in 2025, with occupancy rates dipping.

A Tale of Two Trends

Flights pivot away from Thailand, as Vietnam and Malaysia gain

The abduction and rescue of Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was lured to Thailand and trafficked to Myanmar by an online scam gang, continues to deter travelers.

“Chinese travelers who have never been to Thailand are still scared,” said Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association. “We have done a very poor job in publicizing how the government has cracked down on call center scams and boosted security.”

Thailand’s also losing its reputation for value. Mainland visitors complain on social media about price hikes on hotels, food and taxi rides post-pandemic.