BEIJING: The growth rate of inbound tourism has outstripped outbound travel during China’s National Day holiday this year, thanks to China’s 144-hour visa-free policy and a series of initiatives designed to facilitate foreign visitors’ consumption and accommodation.
According to data from Ctrip.com, inbound tourism orders during the holiday rose by an impressive 60 percent year-on-year. The top 10 outbound destinations for Chinese travelers are Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia, the UK, Singapore, the Philippines and the U.S. Apart from Vietnam. The destinations are also among the top sources of inbound tourists to China.
This year, Thailand and Singapore, countries that enjoy mutual visa exemptions with China, ranked third and fifth in terms of inbound tourism.
Many traditional tourist cities are enhancing their appeal by adding new international flight routes, attracting a significant number of foreign visitors. For instance, Zhangjiajie’s inbound tourist source countries have expanded from 133 in 2019 to an impressive 171 now.
Looking at the cities with the highest outbound flight bookings, Hong Kong, Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Seoul (South Korea), and Osaka (Japan) lead the pack.
With the recovery of international flights, ticket prices have become more competitive, broadening the options available for outbound travelers. Data from Qunar.com shows that Chinese tourists’ flight and hotel bookings now span 1,597 cities across 144 countries, and more than half of the newly popular destinations for the National Day holiday are located in Africa.
On the Tongcheng Travel platform, interest in flights to destinations such as Egypt, Turkey, Hungary and Kenya surged more than threefold compared to last year. –The Daily Mail-CGTN news exchange item
