China Focus: Foreign destinations woo Chinese tourists at services trade fair

BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- He Qian, a staffer at the Cuba pavilion of a major services trade fair in Beijing, finds himself quite busy answering inquiries about travel to Cuba. Within hours, he has added over 20 visitors to his WeChat for further advice.

"After the resumption of a flight between Beijing and Havana in May cut the trip by 10 hours, we have received several times more Chinese visitors to Cuba," said He.

At the ongoing 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), Angeles Munoz Uriol, mayor of Marbella, Spain, also extended invitations to Chinese tourists. The city hopes to attract Chinese visitors to its scores of tourist attractions as tourism is a pillar industry there, the mayor said.

At the five-day event, many foreign destinations seek to cash in on Chinese tourists' palpable enthusiasm for international travel amid the revving up of the global tourism market.

China is the largest source of international visitors. According to the China Tourism Academy, the number of outbound Chinese tourists for this year is forecasted to exceed 130 million, marking a 49-percent surge from 87 million in 2023.

Chinese visitors are also traveling farther as their outbound travel bookings for the National Day holiday cover 1,597 cities in 144 countries, with more than half of the newly added destination countries being in Africa, said Chen Xiaoshuang, a researcher with the big data research institute of online travel service provider Qunar.

Orders for travel to Africa have increased by 30-35 percent yearly, with expanded destinations, more in-depth travel and diversified tourism modes, said Zhang Lei, director of UTour Group Co., Ltd.

CIFTIS offers visitors a glimpse of the scenery, cultures and customs of multiple countries, with cutting-edge and immersive technologies enhancing visitors' experience to allure them to explore these travel destinations.

When introducing the mighty Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe's prime tourist destination and one of the world's seven natural wonders, the mayor of Victoria Falls Prince Thuso Moyo highlighted their efforts to balance animal habitat protection and modern infrastructure construction.

At a key forum of CIFTIS, deputy mayor of London Justine Simons said that culture, a key driver in the world tourism sector, attracts tourists back to revisit the same places time and again. She added that over 60 percent of visitors in London are return guests.

In recent years, visa-free policies or electronic visa policies for Chinese visitors in some countries have injected further momentum into the outbound tourism market.

"You don't have to apply for a visa in advance. Only an air ticket is needed to bring you to Thailand." These are the words that Piya Tangkanjanapas frequently repeats in the Thailand pavilion of the services trade fair.

When the volunteer, a 22-year-old Thai student studying in China, flew back to Thailand recently, he noticed more Chinese passengers on the plane. He believes that the visa-free policies present a valuable opportunity for his hometown's tourism industry.

"Electronic visas on arrival for the Chinese make inbound tourism easier. We are expecting more Chinese tourists to come to Indonesia this year, especially during the National Day holiday," said Dewi Avilia, counselor for Information, Culture and Tourism of the Indonesian Embassy in China.

"Since the visa exemption decision for Chinese visitors was implemented by Morocco in 2016, we are glad to notice that an increasing number of Chinese tourists have traveled visa-free to Morocco year by year," said Radouane Chaouki, deputy chief of mission of the Moroccan Embassy in China.

Further resumption of international flights will also facilitate outbound tourism. "The number of flights has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels. Therefore, further resumption of international flights may greatly boost tourism with more travel choices for tourists," said Zhang of UTour Group Co., Ltd.

"We are looking forward to relaunching the direct air route by 2025 to facilitate travel between the two countries," said Radouane Chaouki. ■