ADAM MINTER: The great disappearing act of the Chinese tourist
New youth appetites, the ballooning local luxury goods market and geopolitics weigh on a recovery
02 August 2023 - 05:00
Before Covid-19, Malaysia’s luxury mall beneath Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Towers echoed with the sound of Chinese tourists and their dialects. But recently, during a busy dinner hour, they were missing. Din, the mall’s outlet of famous Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung, a favourite of Chinese tourists, was half-full with local Malaysians and Mideastern customers. When I asked a cashier whether they had served many Chinese lately, she shook her head with a tight smile.
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