Interest in Turkiye soars among Chinese tourists after introduction of visa-free entry

GUANGZHOU -- Turkiye has introduced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens who hold ordinary passports and enter for the purpose of tourism or transit. The new policy, effective on Jan 2, 2026, has ignited interest among Chinese tourists.

Under the new policy, Chinese citizens holding ordinary passports will be exempt from visa requirements for tourism and transit purposes. They may stay in Turkiye for up to 90 days within any 180-day period.

Data from online Chinese travel platform Qunar shows that by 12 pm on Friday, searches for flights from Chinese cities to Istanbul had surged 6.3 times from a week earlier. Searches for flights to Antalya had increased 1.3 times, and searches for flights to Izmir had doubled.

Data from Trip.com shows that since the visa waiver announcement, the year-on-year growth rate of user interaction with and attention to travel to Turkiye has exceeded 50 percent.

Turkiye has been steadily enhancing its travel connectivity with China. In May 2025, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on aviation, raising the frequency of passenger flights from 21 to 49 per week.

Turkiye had already been a popular outbound destination for Chinese tourists, and gained noticeable traction throughout 2025, said Yang Han, a researcher at Qunar's big data research institute.

"The visa-free entry policy will lower travel barriers," Yang said. "Coupled with the upcoming nine-day Spring Festival holiday in 2026, it is expected to boost demand for travel to Turkiye from Chinese tourists even further during the holiday period."