Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other senior officials attend a welcome ceremony for Chinese tourists at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand, Jan. 9, 2023.
Many countries welcomed Chinese tourists as China announced to downgrade management of COVID-19 infection and resume outbound tourism for Chinese citizens orderly.
Embassies and tourism authorities of countries including France, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland,and New Zealand expressed their expectations for Chinese tourists on Chinese social media.
France is among the first countries to open its door to Chinese tourists. Its embassy posted on Sina Weibo last month, saying "Chinese friends, France welcomes you with open arms."
The Austrian Tourist Board attracts Chinese guests with open-air concerts at the Imperial Palace in Innsbruck and the Salzburg Harvest Festival, where they sing and dance with locals and feast on tasty dishes from farmhouses in the Alps.
Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Cambodia also opened their arms to Chinese tourists.
Cambodian Minister of Tourism Thong Khon expressed his warm welcome for Chinese tourists and investors, saying Cambodia is making preparations for Chinese tourists.
The tourism ministry encourages enterprises involving Chinese tourists’ reception to carry out relevant certification procedures as soon as possible and make preparations such as providing accommodation for tourists from China, said the minister.
On Monday, Thai deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other senior officials welcomed Chinese 269 tourists at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok with gift bags, and the Thai government stressed they would treat all foreign tourists equally.
A tourism practitioner from Japan told Yicai Global that the Japanese market wants to see Chinese tourists the most, although the Japanese government set up more restrictions for travelers from China since Monday.
“We are still waiting for the return of Chinese tourists. The resumption of group tours from China will significantly boost the recovery of Japanese tourism,” said Miho Kuwana from Japan Association of Travel Agents who has 1,100 members.
The Japanese government hopes to attract five trillion yen in tourism consumption every year and increase the number of visitors to Japan to 60 million by 2030, but Japanese media doubts the goal of boosting economic development with tourism without participation of Chinese tourists.
Head of NAA Retailing Group, which operates duty-free shops at Narita International Airport, looked forward to the return of Chinese tourists, saying the company would hire staff who can speak Chinese if there are a large number of tourists from China.
- International tourism markets welcome Chinese tourists with open arms
- Outbound tourism gains momentum
- Tourism equipment industry to see revival
- Guangxi acts to upgrade border tourism in 3 years
- Villages of Dazhai, Jingzhu named best for tourism in 2022
- Chinese villages recognized among Best Tourism Villages of 2022 by UNWTO
Popular Videos
Hot comments
- China Life: Chinese women shine with She Power
- First apes at U.S. zoo receive COVID-19 vaccine made for animals, zoo official says
- 86-year-old grandma in Hebei spends most her life on traditional cheongsam
- Homemade curling videos trending in China
- Lantern Festival: A romantic celebration in China
- China’s only captive male manul dies of choking
- Seven things you may not know about Lantern Festival
- People across China prepare to greet Spring Festival
- Veteran free skier Xu wins gold in women’s aerials at Beijing 2022
- Farmers work in paddy fields in S China’s Guangxi
Top Reviews
- Guangxi resumes normal operations of shuttle buses to Vietnam
- Xi stresses need to promote full, rigorous Party self-governance
- China halts issuance of short-term visas to South Koreans
- China spares no efforts in ensuring anti-COVID drug development, supply
- China’s border reopening significant for Singapore: Health Minister
- China receives over 250,000 inbound passenger trips on first day of new COVID policy
- International tourism markets welcome Chinese tourists with open arms
- Multitude Chinese cities say they have past first COVID peak
- BYD begins construction of vehicle comprehensive test site project
- Normal travel between mainland, Hong Kong resumes with border reopening