China News AgencyBeijing, January 11th: (Economic Observer) China’s outbound travel continues to heat up, injecting a “stimulant” into the recovery of the global tourism industry
Author Liu Wenwen
Recently, as China resumes its citizens’ outbound travel in an orderly manner, outbound travel continues to heat up. While many airlines are deploying international and regional routes intensively, many countries are also eagerly awaiting the “return” of Chinese tourists to the global tourism market.
Many airlines deploy international and regional routes intensively
Recently, many airlines are actively preparing for the resumption of flights.
Beijing Daxing Airport will officially resume international and regional passenger routes on January 17. From March 14, 2020, all international flights at Daxing Airport will be transferred to Capital Airport. So far, Daxing Airport has “suspended” international passenger flights for nearly three years and is about to press the “restart button”.
Zheng Yue, Deputy General Manager of North China Marketing Center of China Southern AirlinesChina News AgencyIt said that from January 17, China Southern Airlines will resume the Beijing Daxing-Hong Kong passenger route. At present, China Southern Airlines is actively promoting the resumption of flights from Beijing Daxing to Seoul Gimpo and Seoul Incheon. In terms of long-term international routes, Beijing Daxing-Amsterdam and Istanbul routes are being actively promoted. The resumption of the above-mentioned flights is expected to resume in the summer and autumn seasons of 2023.
Himalaya Airlines is the first overseas airline to resume flights at Daxing Airport. An Yongsheng, general manager and chief representative of Himalaya Airlines in China, told reporters that the resumption of flights is the resumption of direct flights between the capitals of China and Nepal after the suspension in 2020. This route is the fastest and most convenient passage between Beijing and Kathmandu.
“After the direct flight between Kathmandu and Beijing, we will quickly resume flights to more cities, providing time-saving and labor-saving direct flight experience for Chinese tourists traveling to Nepal, which will greatly facilitate cultural exchanges and economic and trade exchanges between the two countries. “An Yongsheng said.
In addition, China Eastern Airlines’ international routes will also usher in a new batch of recovery and encryption in the near future. From January 23, China Eastern Airlines will add Shanghai Pudong-Melbourne flights, reaching three flights per week; during January, Shanghai Pudong-Budapest, Shanghai Pudong-Auckland, Shanghai-Sydney and other flights will increase to three flights per week. Throughout January, China Eastern Airlines plans to increase its weekly passenger international routes to 48 and 184 flights.
Many countries eagerly look forward to the “return” of Chinese tourists
China has always been one of the world’s leading consumers of outbound tourism. While China is restarting outbound tourism, many countries are also eagerly looking forward to the arrival of Chinese tourists.
Recently, Anutin, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health of Thailand, picked up the plane at the airport and welcomed the first batch of Chinese tourists to Thailand after being infected with the “Class B and B Control” of the new crown virus. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of Thailand, in the first quarter of this year, about 338 flights from China will arrive at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Tourism Authority of Thailand stated that the return of Chinese tourists will further boost Thailand’s tourism industry. It is estimated that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand will reach 300,000 in the first quarter of this year, and the number of Chinese tourists received throughout the year will reach 5 million.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also welcomed and looked forward to Chinese tourists. Cambodia has always been an “attractive tourist destination” for China, he said. Cambodia is expected to receive 2 million Chinese tourists this year, which will drive the rapid recovery of Cambodia’s economy.
Malaysia recently estimated that it will receive 1.5 million to 2 million Chinese tourists in 2023. Relevant industry players in Singapore estimate that the return of Chinese tourists will bring an additional 2 billion Singapore dollars in revenue to Singapore throughout the year.
In addition to the above-mentioned countries, there are also some countries that issue “separate air” online invitations to Chinese tourists. The French embassy, the tourism bureaus of Thailand, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and other countries have posted posts welcoming Chinese tourists.
A strong boost to the recovery of the global tourism industry
“China’s reopening of international travel is a major event in the recovery process of the global tourism industry, and will inject strong impetus into the overall recovery of the tourism economy of relevant countries.” Cheng Chaogong, chief researcher of Tongcheng Research Institute, toldChina News AgencySay.
Cheng Chaogong pointed out that the scale of China’s tourism industry ranks second in the world, and it is an important source of inbound tourism for many countries. Affected by the epidemic, China’s international flight passenger traffic in 2022 has been in an abnormal state, and the monthly passenger traffic is only equivalent to less than 5% of the same period in 2019.
The recently released “Annual Report on the Development of China’s Outbound Tourism (2022-2023)” pointed out that the current willingness of Chinese tourists to travel abroad has changed significantly, tourists’ confidence is recovering, and they are confident to go to further destinations.
“To a certain extent, the return of Chinese tourists is the ‘last piece of the puzzle’ for the overall recovery of the global tourism industry, and it is also an extremely important ‘engine’.” Cheng Chaogong said.
He further pointed out: “Especially for Southeast Asian countries, the return of Chinese tourists is an extremely important driving force for their economic recovery. For example, before the epidemic, the tourism industry accounted for about 15% of Thailand’s total GDP, and Chinese tourists accounted for about one-third of Thailand’s inbound tourists. One-third, the return of Chinese tourists will greatly stimulate the recovery of Thailand’s economy.”
Zheng Yue said, “With the resumption of more international routes, the return of Chinese tourists is expected to drive the full recovery of international exchanges, including international trade and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, and inject vitality into the global economic development and tourism recovery.” (End)
