After the Departure of Chinese Tourists, a Million Tons of Fruit Rot in Vietnam Ports, Unnoticed
Chinese tourists have long been a major source of visitors to Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam. Initially, Vietnam implemented a visa-free policy for Chinese tourists to attract them, which significantly increased the number of visitors. However, Vietnam unexpectedly reversed this decision, canceling the visa-free policy. Despite this, the impact on China was minimal, but it had a significant impact on Vietnam, even leading to the spoilage of a million tons of fruit.
Due to Vietnam's cancellation of the visa-free policy for Chinese tourists, many Chinese tourists were disappointed, resulting in a decrease in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam. Chinese tourists frequently brought Southeast Asian fruits back to China, and now with the reduced tourist numbers, a million tons of fruit are rotting in ports, with no buyers and no one interested, which has had an indelible impact on Vietnam's economy.
In addition to fruit, the sales of Vietnamese basa fish have also been affected. As a major exporter of basa fish worldwide, Vietnam historically earned significant profits from it. Besides the impact of the visa-free policy on tourist numbers, the sales of basa fish were hampered by Vietnam's substantial price increases, which offended Chinese consumers, leading China to seek alternative basa fish export countries, thus affecting the sales of Vietnamese basa fish.
Now both these commodities have seen a decline in sales, and Vietnam is seeking China's assistance. However, given Vietnam's inconsistent policies in the tourism sector, many people are criticizing Vietnam as a 'dreamer,' as they should have considered the potential impacts when they canceled the visa-free policy, but it is now too late.
In fact, countries other than Vietnam have also canceled visa-free policies for Chinese tourists; Myanmar is one of them. However, the impact on China was minimal, while for Southeast Asian countries that rely on tourism as a pillar of their economy, it was a fatal blow. This decision must be considered from many aspects.
The status of Chinese tourists in international affairs is steadily rising and is a pillar of tourism revenue for many countries. If a country can win the favor of Chinese tourists, its tourism industry will naturally develop.
The actions of Vietnam and Myanmar serve as a warning to other countries; the power of Chinese tourists cannot be ignored.
What are your thoughts on this?
