A destination to remember

Theme parks and major scenic spots with distinctive offerings, such as the Palace Museum and the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum, are among international travelers' favorites, it adds.

Additionally, cultural programs, including traditional Chinese medicine massage, wearing ethnic costumes and village soccer games, have all seen a rising number of international visitors.

Ning Guoxin, a senior officer with Beijing-based tourism service provider Utour Group, says the company has started to receive a rising number of inbound visitors for business exchange since the end of last year.

"They have been mainly from Central Asia and Middle East, and the inflow of inbound travelers has been consistent," Ning says.

In mid-May, the company expects to receive more than 200 travelers from Asia, Europe, the US, Japan and South Korea.

"Inbound travelers actually will be more sensitive to positive inbound tourism policies, as they tend to have shorter time for travel planning and arrangements," Ning says, adding that convenient travel procedure will make things much easier for them.

"They will feel the welcoming attitude of our country, which is surely good news in the long run," he says.

The company has been developing themed travel offerings for inbound customers.

"They tend to stay longer, mostly for more than eight days, so they will cover more destinations," Ning says.

"So we need to make the arrangements more relevant, like making destinations connected to themes like the Yellow River, the Great Wall and the Yangtze River, for them to feel better related to their experiences and appreciate our culture," Ning explains.

Simone Zhao from China Horizon Travel, which specializes in arranging tours for individual travelers from Europe, says she has seen continuous growth in orders.

"They say they have felt the efforts we have been making to make travel more comfortable," Zhao says.

Having been engaged in the inbound tourism business for more than three decades in China, Zhao says she can personally see things have positively changed for international travelers since late last month.

Although some things are still to be desired, like more foreign language services for taxi hailing or payment methods, Zhao believes they will be addressed soon, as policies have already been put in place.

"I'm looking forward to seeing more positive feedback from our guests in the future," she says.