RED LANTERN Foreign tourists begin to return, a breath of fresh air for Beijing’s economy

According to some data published in recent days, the entry visa exemption policy for travelers from some European and Southeast Asian countries is bearing its first fruits: 13.1 million arrivals in the first quarter of 2024. And To exceed pre-pandemic levels by 2025, the Chinese authorities are also working to eliminate bans on budget hotels that until now have been closed to foreigners.

Beijing (/Agencies) – Beijing’s commitment to foreign tourism is beginning to bear its first fruits. News that was expected as a breath of fresh air in an economic situation that – dragged down by the real estate market crisis – remains full of unknowns in China.

The official news agency Xinhua today prominently publishes the data according to which in the first quarter of 2024 the entries of foreign citizens reached 13.1 million, which represents an increase of 305.2% compared to the previous year. He adds that some travel platforms during the May holidays recorded increases of more than 100% in bookings from abroad compared to the previous year. These data must be read taking into account that in the first months of 2023 China had just emerged from the total closure imposed by the Covid Zero policy and therefore tourist arrivals from abroad were extremely limited. However now the trend seems clear.

On the other hand, the Chinese government has bet heavily on tourism in recent months and launched a new policy that allows citizens of some European and Southeast Asian countries to enter China without needing a visa for a period of up to 15 days. It was announced in 2023 as a unilateral measure with respect to six countries (Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Holland and Malaysia), it was later extended to six other European countries (Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg) and also to Thailand. . The measure, initially planned for one year, has already been extended until the end of 2025.

Which of these countries have benefited the most so far? As Ethan Lin, general director of the Klook platform, has said in recent days, for now it will continue to be Southeast Asia that provides most of the flow. When he spoke at the UBS Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong, he said travel from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to China in 2024 is already surpassing pre-pandemic numbers. From these countries – commented Lin – people “do not have many places to go without a visa” and that is why “China has become one of the main destinations.”

Another important factor on which the chances of a tourism recovery in China are played is the opening of international circuits of cashless payment systems, which in many cases required Chinese bank accounts and payment applications, thus creating difficulties. It’s an issue that authorities in Beijing are working on (Visa and MasterCard were recently added to Alipay and WeChat Pay); as well as the possibility of staying in the cheapest hotels, which until some time ago were strictly prohibited to clients from abroad.

Given all this, Klook’s CEO is convinced that the flow of foreign tourists to China could fully recover as early as 2025. If his predictions come true, it would be a remarkable achievement, considering that China ended 2023 with only 56% of foreign arrivals in 2019.

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