BANGKOK (NNT) - Entrepreneurs on Phuket island are bracing enthusiastically for the long-awaited return of Chinese tourists, hoping that China’s reopening and dismantling of its strict pandemic curbs can boost their flagging businesses.

In the year before the pandemic, nearly a third of Thailand’s visitors were Chinese tourists, who once accounted for annual global spending of quarter of a trillion dollars on their travels.

Watersports businesses, which offer paragliding, water skiing and other activities, suffered heavy losses during the pandemic, when strict entry conditions and long mandatory quarantine periods kept visitors at bay.

With tourism picking up widely in the region from pent up demand and the end of most travel curbs, Asia’s holiday hotspots are welcoming the return of Chinese tourists, who are celebrating the Lunar New Year.

The government is expecting at least five million Chinese tourist arrivals this year, with 300,000 in the first quarter.

Phuket is expected to get a much-needed payday from a Chinese influx, with the island typically attracting a quarter of Thailand’s annual arrivals.

With its economy almost entirely dependent on tourism, many Phuket businesses were crippled by the pandemic.