Shanghai, Beijing, Berlin Despite corona easing for travelers to China, there probably won’t be an immediate holiday boom there. Assessments from the population, online platforms and travel agencies indicate that the recovery of the multi-billion dollar travel business will take some time.
China’s National Health Commission announced on Monday that arriving vacationers will no longer be quarantined from January 8. There are officially no restrictions on Chinese people traveling abroad, but the new rule should make it much easier for them to return home. The immigration bureau said on Tuesday that China would resume issuing visas to mainland Chinese residents traveling abroad from January 8.
“It’s great that they announced it so I can take my plans seriously,” said Beijing exporter Tom Guo, 43, speaking for many. But he also pointed out that he will probably be with us until late spring or even summer waiting for a trip abroad. However, online portals have already experienced a significant increase in demand.
Data from travel platform Ctrip showed that within half an hour of the announcement, searches for popular cross-border travel destinations increased tenfold.
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The Qunar platform reported a sevenfold increase in searches for international flights in 15 minutes. Japan, Thailand and South Korea were among the top destinations on both platforms.
Travel restrictions in China are lifted
Duty-free shops expect a positive effect
Before the virus pandemic largely crippled global travel, China was the largest so-called tourism exit market in the world. The Chinese spent $127.5 billion on overseas travel in 2019.
The world’s largest travel retailer, Swiss duty-free shop operator Dufry, has welcomed the relief. “We expect a positive effect at the airports that the Chinese use and where we are represented.” If the Chinese travel overseas again more frequently, they are likely to head to destinations in Southeast Asia in the first phase, a Dufry spokesman said.
Openings and new perspectives are also calling airlines and travel groups to the scene. They are exploring if and when to expand their business in China. Lufthansa has welcomed the decision by the Chinese authorities to ease entry restrictions. “This will help mainland China’s international air traffic recover in Europe,” a company spokesman said. The Lufthansa Group is now checking to what extent or for how long it can change its flight schedule to and from mainland China.
The world’s largest travel group, Tui, said the announced travel simplifications should have a positive effect on the currently limited range of flights to China. “This makes city and study trips more attractive to holidaymakers and more attractive in price,” said a Tui spokesperson. For the first quarter of 2023, Tui Cruises’ “Mein Schiff” fleet has already planned to return to Hong Kong – “a positive environment should be conducive here”.
According to industry experts, however, organized travelers are more likely to seek out the beach and the sun. Therefore, Thailand, Maldives and Bali are more popular in Asia. The volume of China’s travel market is relatively small. City and study trips, as well as group trips, played a bigger role.
More: China continues to relax corona measures and ends the quarantine requirement for travellers
