Overseas travel agencies bullish on China's inbound tourism

Boost from policies

On Tuesday, China announced further relaxations of the visa-free transit policy, with extension of foreign travelers' period of stay, and expansion of the list of accessible ports and provincial-level regions.

Eligible travelers transiting to a third country or region will be permitted to stay in the country for up to 240 hours, or 10 days, up from 72 or 144 hours, the National Immigration Administration said.

Earlier, during the travel mart in Shanghai, China released favorable policies to boost inbound tourism.

The visa-exemption policy was extended to nine more countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Japan, and will run from Nov 30 to the end of 2025.

The country has also decided to further optimize the visa-free policy, including exchanges and visit purposes into the visa-free entry scope, and extending the period of visa-free stays from 15 to 30 days.

These measures now enable ordinary passport holders from 38 countries to enter China without a visa for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, exchange visits, and transit for no more than 30 days.

China will continue to facilitate cross-border travel, welcoming people from all countries to visit and experience its diverse charm and share in its development dividends, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in November.

Mao said that China has also taken measures to make work and life more convenient and comfortable for foreigners residing in China. Cities and provinces such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong have improved their mobile payment, bank card and cash services, as well as others that increase the ease of online shopping and transportation for foreign visitors.

She also noted that Chinese telecom operators have improved foreign services and launched new packages to make it more convenient for foreign visitors to access 5G networks in the country.

Foreign entries into China reached 8.19 million in the third quarter of this year, an increase of 48.8 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the National Immigration Administration. Among these, more than 4.8 million visits were made by travelers with visa exemptions, up 78.6 percent compared with the same period last year.

Yang Wenjuan, who is in charge of marketing for the German travel agency China Event and who participated in the Shanghai travel mart, was thrilled by the news of the 30-day stays.

As Germany has been one of the biggest European sources of visitors to China, Yang believes the prolonged period will allow her clients to better explore the country.

"If a guest really likes China, they will surely prefer to stay for at least three weeks," said Yang, who has worked in Germany's outbound tourism business to China since the 1990s.

Yang was among 14 major tour operators invited by China's tourism office in Frankfurt, Germany, to explore business opportunities at the Shanghai travel mart.

Many of them established contact with their Chinese counterparts and will work on tours such as desert trips to Dunhuang, Gansu province, and exploring the shoreline in Hainan province, according to the tourism office.

Yang has noticed improvement in her tourism business since last year, when China granted visa-free entry to German ordinary passport holders and five other countries.

"There are many people who planned to visit but couldn't do so during the pandemic, so this group has been seeking our services," Yang said.

She has seen a shift in German travelers' interest from major cities to lesser-known destinations that feature distinctive culture and folk customs, such as traditional Chinese medicine and local cuisine. There has also been a significant increase in the number of independent travelers.

"I've had interactions with many partners in China during this trip, and I'm optimistic, because I think there are still many experiences that can be recommended to German tourists that will boggle their minds," Yang said.

She plans to develop a Silk Road trip that takes in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Zhangye, Gansu province, an important stop on the ancient route.