South Korean and Japanese shop owners and Thai tour bus operators are among those celebrating China's easing of COVID-19 curbs as businesses around Asia reconnect with the region's largest economy.

China was the world's largest outbound tourism market before the pandemic, and the absence of Chinese tourists has crippled many businesses over the past three years.

"I'm not afraid of getting COVID-19," said Choi Dae-sung, 49, who has sold clothes and other products in Seoul's busy Myeongdong shopping district for about 30 years but rode a motorbike delivering food to make ends meet during the pandemic.

"We had such a hard time, and I would rather have more Chinese people come than the government restricting their entry so I can do business."

Hikeshi Spirit, a clothing store in Tokyo's Asakusa district that was hugely popular with Chinese tourists before the pandemic, is also hoping this key customer group will join other nationalities in returning soon, sales manager Masaki Nagayama said.

"About 90 percent of our staff can speak English, so with the timing for Chinese customers, we would like to think about hiring staff who can speak Chinese," he said.

In Thailand, the deputy prime minister personally welcomed Chinese tourists at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on Monday. The country is now hoping the number of Chinese visitors will double this year to 10 million, nearing the pre-pandemic level of 11 million in 2019.

Read more: Thai businesses welcome returning Chinese tourists

"Tour bus operators who have had their vehicles idly parked for over three years are now gearing up for [bus] inspections," said Thai Tour Bus Association President Wasuchet Sophonsatien.

Kitsanan Bulalom, 53, a Bangkok tour bus driver for 14 years, said he and his colleagues were eager to get back to work and earn more cash, adding that he worked six days a week before the pandemic, but that was cut to only about one day a week when tourism slumped.

China downgraded its COVID-19 management policy on January 8, scrapping mass testing and quarantine.

Underscoring the improving travel demand outlook, data from travel website operator Tongcheng Travel showed that the number of inbound and outbound air ticket orders for January 8 increased by 628 percent year on year, marking the highest level since March 2020.

(Source: Reuters with edits)