Thailand was a top oversea destination for China’s Shanghai travellers in 2011 replacing Japan where a tsunami disaster last March deterring tourist confidence.

According to the 2012 Regional Analysis of China’s Outbound Tourism, released 12 May, travellers booked on organised tours from Shanghai to Thailand surged by almost 69% to reach 190,658 visits. Japan lost about 100,000 visitors, a drop of almost 48% in 2011 from a year earlier. The country was the top destination for Shanghai residents for three years in a row.

However, Japan still ranked second, with 95,700 Shanghai visitors an increase of nearly 33%. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation tourism expert, Xu Fan, said: “A large number of visitors diverted their travel from Japan to Southeast Asian countries and South Korea, while some in the high-end market turned to European countries.”

 

Despite the tsunami and its aftermath, the number of Shanghai’s organised travellers to Japan rose almost 28% in January and nearly 60% in March, but dipped by just over 14% in February. Vietnam was included for the first time in the top 14 popular destinations of local tourists. It posted the biggest increase among the 14 by registering a 238% increase to 24,600.

About 81% of organised tourists in Shanghai visited Asian countries. Travel to Europe also grew in 2011 with an increase of nearly 25% from Shanghai. France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany were the most popular destinations.

Meanwhile, China National Tourism Administration said outbound tourism is still enjoying a rapid increase. In 2011 outbound trips reached 70.25 million, up 22%.

According to Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, for January to April this year there were 757,275 Chinese tourists increasing 23.55% from 612,918 visits during the same period last year.