'We are ready' Joy at return of Chinese travellers

After almost three years of little to no business, Thai tour guide operator Anchalee Vittayanuntapornkul is more than relieved that Chinese tourists are allowed to travel again.

-  Rebecca Ratcliffe and Navaon Siradapuvadol

"I'm sure if you ask anyone in the tourism industry, the only nationality that they are waiting to see come back is the Chinese tourists," said Anchalee, who is based in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

China has scrapped the requirement for inbound travellers to quarantine, making holidaying abroad much easier. The policy change is expected to boost the tourism sector across the region, including south-east Asia, which depended heavily on Chinese travellers before the pandemic.

Anchalee,the owner of CM Paradise Tour, has hired extra Chinese speakers and drivers to take groups on tours of Chiang Mai's Doi Suthep temple, its waterfalls and landscapes.