Reporter Zhao Shan.
Polish tourists visit and shop in Beijing. Photo courtesy of CYTS International Tourism***.
Vietnamese tourists take a group photo in Jingxi, Guangxi. Photo courtesy of the interviewee.
Overseas tourists scan the QR code with their mobile phones to pay the bill at a small shop in Hangzhou. Courtesy of Alipay.
Overseas tourists take a group photo at the seaside in Sanya, Hainan. Photo courtesy of Sanya Tourism Development Bureau.
Since the beginning of this year, there has been an increase in the number of overseas tourists in many places in China, and the inbound tourism market has continued to heat up. In order to help accelerate the recovery of inbound tourism, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is actively introducing the "Inbound Tourism Promotion Plan", and the cultural and tourism departments in many places have launched measures to boost inbound tourism, and tourism enterprises have innovated products and improved services, so as to provide overseas tourists with a more convenient and beautiful trip to China.
The effect of the visa-free policy is emerging.
China and Malaysia have waived visas for each other, making it easier for tourists from the two countries to travel between the two countries. Recently, 286 Malaysian tourists flew from Kuala Lumpur to Shenyang in the form of charter flights under the Spring and Autumn Tourism Organization to travel together for the Chinese New Year and ice and snow tours in China. They visited the classic scenic spots in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, experienced the "big gathering" and enjoyed the New Year's fireworks show.
Looi, a Malaysian tourist, said: "We live in the tropics and have never experienced the ice and snow in Northeast China. This time, I decided to travel to Shenyang during the Spring Festival because I wanted children and the elderly to experience different cultures and feel the natural beauty under different climatic conditions. Our family is full of expectations for Shenyang delicacies such as Laobian dumplings and Li Liangui's bacon flatbread. ”
According to Ctrip's statistics, during the Spring Festival, the effect of China's visa-free policy has emerged, with a significant increase in tourists from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries that can enter China without visas, and the total number of inbound travel orders for the Spring Festival in these countries has doubled compared with the same period in 2019.
Recently, Guangxi has welcomed many Vietnamese tourists. A total of 518 Vietnamese tourists entered the country from the Longbang port in Jingxi, Guangxi, to celebrate the Chinese New Year in China and experience traditional Chinese culture. The China-Vietnam Detian (Banyo) Waterfall Cross-border Tourism Cooperation Zone is the first cross-border tourism cooperation zone in China. According to statistics, the cooperation zone received a total of 43 cross-border tour groups between China and Vietnam during the Spring Festival holiday, of which Vietnam organized 16 tour groups to enter the cooperation zone, and Vietnamese tourists felt the unique tourism experience of "crossing the two countries in one day".
At the beginning of this year, the inbound tourism market in Sanya, Hainan Province heated up significantly. In January, Sanya received inbound overnight tourists640,000 person-times, a year-on-year increase of 329%, and an increase of 12% over 2019. At the end of December last year, the international route between Sanya and Moscow resumed, and many Russian tourists went to Sanya for a winter vacation. The passenger load factor of the Sanya-Moscow route in January was nearly 80%, and the number of inbound Russian tourists received by Sanya in January increased by 74% month-on-month and 9 times year-on-year.
In January this year, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province received 540,000 passengers, an increase of 926% over the same period last year, and recovered to 91% of the same period in 2019. Since the beginning of this year, Hunan Zhangjiajie inbound tourism has ushered in a good start, with overseas tourists from more than 20 countries and regions such as South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and France flocking to it.
Increase promotion efforts in many places.
In order to better attract overseas tourists, multiple measures have been taken to enhance the international visibility and attractiveness of the destination. The reporter learned from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism that in recent years, the bureau has made efforts in the inbound tourism market by enriching products, expanding global communication channels, and enhancing the interaction between sister cities. The "Beijing New Discovery" project has excavated and developed 88 emerging cultural and tourism destinations in Beijing with 11 themes, creating a variety of cultural tourism consumer products such as cycling, intangible cultural heritage, strolling, and night tours, and continuously enriching the supply of inbound tourism products. This year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism will organize inbound tourism enterprises to participate in internationally renowned tourism exhibitions such as the Berlin International Travel Exhibition in Germany and the World Travel Exhibition in London, and tell the Beijing chapter of China's story through rich cultural and tourism exchange activities, and continue to inject new impetus into the high-quality development of Beijing's inbound tourism.
The Fujian Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism is making every effort to build a world-renowned tourist destination that "always comes, always thinks, and always comes and is always new". In February this year, the Fujian Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism held a series of activities to expand the inbound tourism market, including the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition and Performance at the Starting Point of the Maritime Silk Road, Fresh Fujian" with the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region, to bring about a lively inbound tourism market through people-to-people exchanges. went to Spain and the Maldives to carry out the cultural tourism promotion and exchange activities of "Maritime Silk Road Starting Point and Fresh Fujian"; Go to Milan, Italy to participate in the 2024 Milan Tourism Exhibition to expand the international popularity and influence of the "Maritime Silk Road Starting Point, Fresh Fujian" brand.
The Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region will optimize inbound tourism products and routes this year, carry out tourism exchanges and promotion activities in key overseas source markets such as ASEAN, Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, strengthen cultural and tourism exchanges with Malacca, Malaysia, strengthen coordination and communication with Vietnam, jointly develop tourism routes, and promote the resumption of cross-border self-driving tourism business between China and Vietnam.
The reporter learned from the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism of Zhejiang Province that Hangzhou is comprehensively revising the "Hangzhou Tourism Internationalization Action Plan (2024-2026)", effectively solving the problems affecting the process of Hangzhou's tourism internationalization, and forming 20 opinions on the internationalization of Hangzhou's tourism. This year, Hangzhou will increase innovative international marketing, cooperate with global travel agents, and jointly plan and launch Chinese history and culture exploration tours and traditional Chinese medicine health and cultural tourism products; Launched the contemporary "Marco Polo" discovery program to attract bloggers from all over the world to promote the charm of "paradise on earth".
This year, the Sanya Tourism Development Bureau of Hainan Province will continue to step up its international marketing efforts and promote the development of inbound routes in key overseas source markets such as Russia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong. Focusing on the trend of younger tourists, we will promote the construction of Sanya's fashionable international tourist resort, create a consumption scene and atmosphere of "festivals every month and activities every week", strengthen the brand of Sanya City Tourism Festival, introduce and hold activities such as ** festivals, concerts, trend exhibitions, art exhibitions and other activities with influence at home and abroad, and enhance the popularity of Sanya's inbound tourism.
Optimize travel services in China.
Overseas tourists experiencing a better life in China is becoming a new driving force for the development of inbound tourism. Improving the convenience of inbound tourists to travel in China is the key to the rapid recovery of inbound tourism.
Tourism enterprises continue to innovate in product development and service guarantee to help inbound tourism recover. Spring and Autumn Tourism has launched micro-tour routes such as "Exploring Shanghai's Modern and Modern History - The Bund + Bund Source Micro Tour Line" and "Experiencing Shanghai's Romance and Coffee Culture - Wukang Road Micro Tour Line" to overseas tourists, and provides English tour guides, so that overseas tourists can learn about Shanghai through the form of citywalk. At the same time, the service details are optimized, and the staff of the Spring and Autumn City Tour Bus are stepping up English speaking training to communicate with overseas tourists; Small change is also prepared on the platform so that tourists who need it can buy tickets directly with cash.
Payment is a pain point for overseas tourists when visiting China. Ctrip has launched a solution: when tourists book travel products, they can use their overseas mobile phone numbers to register and open a personal e-CNY wallet to pay through e-CNY. In addition, Ctrip also provides 24/7 multilingual customer service and global SOS emergency assistance services.
trip.com is an inbound travel service platform built by Ctrip, which has become a one-stop gateway for overseas tourists to visit China, including hotel reservations, travel advice, transportation, payment methods and other content. As of now, the platform has served more than 100,000 foreign tourists. This year, Ctrip aims to increase the number of inbound tourists by 150% compared to 2019.
Alipay APP has launched a mobile payment service for overseas tourists to help them travel to China. Overseas users**Alipay and bank cards are bound (currently supporting a variety of international bank cards), and they can pay with Alipay at tens of millions of merchants in China's daily life scenarios, including restaurants, hotels, scenic spots, convenience stores, supermarkets, taxis, shared bicycles, buses, etc., just like domestic users. Overseas tourists can also use Alipay's ** translation, exchange rate inquiry and other services to enhance their travel experience in China. During the Spring Festival, the amount of overseas tourists spending with Alipay in China increased by 500% year-on-year, and the amount spent by scanning Alipay with overseas wallets increased by 32 times year-on-year.