SE Asia falls off the map for many Chinese vacationers

China's biggest online travel agency is offering a 30 percent discount on trips to Southeast Asia's beaches and malls. The Chinese are not buying it.

"Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are traditionally the favorite tourism routes for the Chinese," said Jiang Haibin, a public affairs manager at Ctrip.com International Ltd. "This year, that route was affected a lot."

Chinese travelers have been deterred by political violence and the mysterious disappearance almost six months ago of a Malaysian aircraft bound for Beijing. Territorial skirmishes with the Philippines and Vietnam have also hurt relations, while Singapore, a transit hub and stopover for those traveling around in the region, said arrivals from China dropped 30 percent in the first six months of the year.