The text provided does not mention which domestic destinations benefit most from the increase in foreign visitors.The text provided does not mention which domestic destinations benefit most from the increase in foreign visitors.
Official data and the latest market research show that China’s visa waivers for citizens of certain countries are contributing to a revival of domestic tourism across the country.
International visitors came to China in the first half of this year with 14.64 million people, up 153% from the same period in 2023, according to figures from the National Immigration Administration. Some 8.54 million visits were made using visa waivers, accounting for 52% of the total and up 190% from last year.
Last year, China began testing unilateral visa waivers for countries including France, Germany and Australia, in addition to implementing reciprocal visa waiver agreements with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Thirty-eight open ports in 18 provinces also offer 72-hour or 144-hour visa-free transit to travelers from 54 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea and Japan, provided they have an onward ticket to a third country.
Which domestic destinations benefit most from this increase in foreign visitors?
In terms of hotel bookings by international tourists, the 10 most popular cities in the first half of this year were Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi’an and Nanjing, according to Trip.com, a major online travel agency. However, compared to 2023, some niche destinations have emerged.
For example, Zhangjiajie, a scenic spot in central Hunan province known for its caves and pointed stone columns, received 261,200 foreign visitors in the first quarter, nearly 48 times the number for the same period in 2023 and 44% higher than in the first quarter of 2019, data from the provincial culture and tourism authority showed. These tourists came from 101 countries and regions, including South Korea, the US, Russia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
Ticket sales for flights to Yuncheng, a city in northern Shanxi province, also rose 89% and 246% in the first half of this year compared with the same periods in 2023 and 2019 respectively, Trip.com said. The increase can be attributed in part to a mutual visa waiver agreement with Thailand, which was launched on March 1. Yuncheng is the birthplace of Guan Yu, a warrior who features prominently in the Chinese classic “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which has long been popular with Thais and even features in school textbooks. The city’s first direct international flight route, launched in 2017, was to Bangkok, the Thai capital.
Flight frequency seems to have some effect on destination choice. Outside the major hubs of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, inbound tourists from neighbouring Asian countries seem to prefer to arrive in Chinese cities with the most convenient connections.
Dalian, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, for example, has 57 weekly flights to Japan and is just a two-hour flight from Tokyo. The Chinese city is home to 1,500 Japanese-funded enterprises and has the highest Japanese-language proficiency rate in the country. Meanwhile, 122 weekly flights from South Korea land in Qingdao, on the east coast of Shandong province, home to about 100,000 Koreans at its peak.
Soft landing
The continued rebound in Chinese tourism is undoubtedly linked to the increasing number of international flights since early 2023, as part of the global recovery from the pandemic.
The busiest route in terms of flights so far this year has been between Shanghai and Tokyo. The number of weekly flights has risen from 14 in 2022 to a whopping 186 in June this year, an average of one per hour, according to Flight Master, an online platform that shares data from the travel industry. However, the total number of flights from China to Japan in the first week of June was still 77% lower than the same period in 2019.
“The European market is where Air China is investing the most in terms of international capacity, with 32 routes and 53 daily flights between China and Europe,” a spokesperson for the national carrier said at a recent press conference, adding that the number of flights was up 16% compared to 2019. The latest figures from Flight Master show that flights from China to the UK and Italy are both higher than five years ago.
In contrast, the recovery of routes between North America and China has been slower. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association, explains that one reason for this is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has closed Russian airspace to US carriers, significantly increasing the costs of operating routes between China and the US. There are currently only 95 weekly flights between the two countries, compared to 359 in 2019.
International tourists may be populating China’s streets again, but the connection between China and the world has still not been restored.
Reported by Shu Yi‘eh.
A version of this article originally appeared in The Paper. It has been translated and edited for brevity and clarity, and is republished here with permission.
Translator: Wang Jingyang; graphic designers: Wei Yao and Luo Yahan; editors: Xue Ni and Hao Qibao.
(Header image: Tourists visit the Forbidden City in Beijing, July 9, 2024. Jia Tianyong/CNS/VCG)
