Chinese travel agencies are allowed to reopen group tours to 20 countries. However, Vietnam, Japan, and some countries in the European Union are not on the list.
The list includes 10 Asian countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and UAE. The remaining 10 include Cuba, Argentina, Egypt, Fiji, Hungary, Kenya, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, and Switzerland.
According to Tokyo News, Thailand is the most popular destination for Chinese tourists, followed by Indonesia, Maldives, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, and Switzerland.
Previously, the government of the country banned travel agents from selling international tours when the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread. On January 8, 2023, China officially opened its borders and removed the “Zero-COVID” policy.
Before COVID-19, Chinese tourists accounted for the majority of the international tourism market. In 2019, there were more than 155 million Chinese tourists traveling with a total spending of over 255 billion USD.
Chinese travel agencies are designing a variety of tours to meet different routes, markets, and groups of tourists. They also connect with tourism products, visa services, hotel bookings, and foreign entertainment venues.
Shen Jiani, a senior researcher at Trip.com, predicts that the outbound tourism market in China will boom around the country’s National Day holiday in October because of an increase in international flights and convenience in travel.
