Southeast Asia falls out of favor with Chinese tourists

China’s 28% rise in outbound travel to US$165 billion in 2014 has left Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia behind amid political tensions and air safety concerns, The Financial Times reported. Aside from Thailand, which has seen a rebound in Chinese tourists since another military coup last year, the number of Chinese visitors to Southeast Asia fell in the first three months of 2015 to 1.5 million from 1.9 million a year earlier, according to the Center for Aviation. That follows a fall in annual visitors for the same countries last year to 6.2 million from 6.4 million in 2013. Northeast Asia, meanwhile, saw Chinese tourists up 38% to 3.3 million for the first quarter this year.