Going all out to lure Chinese tourists

Silhouette beauty: A tourist posing next to a light sculpture ahead of the Lunar New Year celebration in Bangkok’s China town. Retailers in popular Asian destinations are desperate to take advantage of the return of a first wave of Chinese tourists as the country reopens borders after three long years of Covid-19 curbs. — Reuters

HONG KONG: As Chinese shoppers trickle back to tourist hotspots for Lunar New Year holidays, malls from Macau to Bangkok aim to lure them into stores with red lantern displays, special dances to mark the Year of the Rabbit – and discounts.

The overall number of international flights from China is still just 12% of pre-pandemic levels due to slow capacity increases.