BANGKOK ¨C From quiet beaches in Bali to empty rooms in Hanoi¡¯s hotels, pangs from China¡¯s economic malaise and weakening yuan are being felt across Southeast Asia¡¯s vacation belt.
A boom in Chinese outbound travel in recent years that stoked tourism across Southeast Asia is now in reverse gear. The abrupt decline of Chinese travelers is becoming a painful lesson for nations such as Thailand and Indonesia that had become overly dependent on Asia¡¯s top economy.
¡°The slump in Chinese arrivals and tourism spending is being felt throughout the region,¡± said Kampon Adireksombat, Bangkok-based head of economic and financial market research at Siam Commercial Bank Pcl. ¡°There¡¯s always a concentration risk when relying on one market, and many countries may not be able to find a replacement for growth fast enough.¡±
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