New low-cost flights should bring more Chinese tourists to Brunei
A Chinese budget airline with the enchanting name Lucky Air just launched flights from Kunming, the capital of China’s southern Yunnan province, and from Nanning, the capital of neighbouring Guangxi autonomous region, on July 18 and July 15, respectively, to Brunei.
It is the first time that Brunei gets directly connected by air to these large Chinese cities which are seen to have a rapidly growing outbound tourism potential. Kunming has 6.5 million inhabitants, and Nanning 6.9 million.
The direct flight services will operate twice a week for both destinations, using Boeing 737-800 and Airbus 320 planes. They complement existing Brunei-China connections to Shanghai and Zhengzhou and a charter to Xian by Royal Brunei Airlines.
Kunming-based Lucky Air is part of Hainan Airlines Group, the largest privately-run airline holding in China owned by conglomerate HNA Group, a Fortune 500 company focused on tourism, logistics, industry and financial services.
According to Brunei’s Tourism Development Department, most Chinese visitors would come to Brunei on tour packages of four to eight days to explore the country and the surrounding regions.
Statistics of the department say that tourism revenue generated by China visitors in 2016 was estimated at 6.45 million Brunei dollars ($4.7 million) with an average length of stay of 2.8 days in Brunei.
In 2016, Brunei received 40,383 Chinese tourists, which is an increase of a whopping 18.7 per cent from 2015 that not only has to do with Chinese increasingly becoming fond of traveling, but also with a new visa-on-arrival facility for Chinese passport holders in Brunei.
Overall, Brunei has seen a light rise in tourism arrivals last year: The total number of international tourist arrivals through Brunei International Airport reached 218,809 in 2016, up 0.3 per cent year-on-year. This number doesn’t count land arrivals from Sarawak and Sabah, though.
However, In the first quarter of 2017, the total number of international tourist arrivals to Brunei by air stood at 67,956, compared to 56,431 in the same period last year, an increase of 20.4 per cent.
The top five source countries to Brunei in the first quarter of 2017 were Malaysia due to its easy air accessibility and close proximity followed by China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. In total, the top five countries contributed the majority of international tourist arrivals into Brunei.
The main purpose of a visit to Brunei was for leisure and holiday at a 41.7 per cent share. About 13.7 per cent of visitors traveled for business, followed by transit passengers with a share of 10.1 per cent.
A Chinese budget airline with the enchanting name Lucky Air just launched flights from Kunming, the capital of China's southern Yunnan province, and from Nanning, the capital of neighbouring Guangxi autonomous region, on July 18 and July 15, respectively, to Brunei. It is the first time that Brunei gets directly connected by air to these large Chinese cities which are seen to have a rapidly growing outbound tourism potential. Kunming has 6.5 million inhabitants, and Nanning 6.9 million. The direct flight services will operate twice a week for both destinations, using Boeing 737-800 and Airbus 320 planes. They complement existing...
A Chinese budget airline with the enchanting name Lucky Air just launched flights from Kunming, the capital of China’s southern Yunnan province, and from Nanning, the capital of neighbouring Guangxi autonomous region, on July 18 and July 15, respectively, to Brunei.
It is the first time that Brunei gets directly connected by air to these large Chinese cities which are seen to have a rapidly growing outbound tourism potential. Kunming has 6.5 million inhabitants, and Nanning 6.9 million.
The direct flight services will operate twice a week for both destinations, using Boeing 737-800 and Airbus 320 planes. They complement existing Brunei-China connections to Shanghai and Zhengzhou and a charter to Xian by Royal Brunei Airlines.
Kunming-based Lucky Air is part of Hainan Airlines Group, the largest privately-run airline holding in China owned by conglomerate HNA Group, a Fortune 500 company focused on tourism, logistics, industry and financial services.
According to Brunei’s Tourism Development Department, most Chinese visitors would come to Brunei on tour packages of four to eight days to explore the country and the surrounding regions.
Statistics of the department say that tourism revenue generated by China visitors in 2016 was estimated at 6.45 million Brunei dollars ($4.7 million) with an average length of stay of 2.8 days in Brunei.
In 2016, Brunei received 40,383 Chinese tourists, which is an increase of a whopping 18.7 per cent from 2015 that not only has to do with Chinese increasingly becoming fond of traveling, but also with a new visa-on-arrival facility for Chinese passport holders in Brunei.
Overall, Brunei has seen a light rise in tourism arrivals last year: The total number of international tourist arrivals through Brunei International Airport reached 218,809 in 2016, up 0.3 per cent year-on-year. This number doesn’t count land arrivals from Sarawak and Sabah, though.
However, In the first quarter of 2017, the total number of international tourist arrivals to Brunei by air stood at 67,956, compared to 56,431 in the same period last year, an increase of 20.4 per cent.
The top five source countries to Brunei in the first quarter of 2017 were Malaysia due to its easy air accessibility and close proximity followed by China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore. In total, the top five countries contributed the majority of international tourist arrivals into Brunei.
The main purpose of a visit to Brunei was for leisure and holiday at a 41.7 per cent share. About 13.7 per cent of visitors traveled for business, followed by transit passengers with a share of 10.1 per cent.
