Chinese authorities lift bans on group trips during the epidemic era for more nations, including important markets like the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, which could be beneficial for those nations’ tourism sectors.
The decision was made official on Thursday by China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
Prior to the epidemic, mainland Chinese travelers spent more money abroad than travelers from any other nation, totaling $255 billion in 2019, with group excursions anticipated to make up about 60% of that total.
Many businesses worldwide that depend on tourism are having financial difficulties as a result of their absence since the outbreak.
Restrictions were also relaxed for Germany and the United Kingdom, but Canada, whose recent relations with China have been particularly politically contentious, was not.
China’s third list of nations to get approval was this one. Twenty nations, including Thailand, Russia, Cuba, and Argentina, were part of the first batch that was approved in January. There were 40 nations in the second batch in March, including Brazil, France, Portugal, and Nepal.
China has never provided an explanation for its staggered acceptance process, but commentators have noticed that the nations that took longer to receive approval had greater political and/or trade stress with the second-largest economy in the world.
Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, praised the decision, as did the tourism secretaries of Australia and South Korea, who claimed it would strengthen their nations’ economies.
Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell remarked, “This is another positive step towards the stabilization of our relationship with China.”
It is unclear how much Chinese travel abroad will increase in the newest batch of nations. Since borders were reopened, expectations that demand would surge again have mainly fallen short.
Only 53% of 2019’s levels of international flights into and out of China remained as of July.
This is largely because of staffing issues for many international airlines, which have prevented them from flying more routes, the slow issuance of Chinese travel visas due to backlogs in many Western countries, and a faltering domestic economy, which discourages many Chinese tourists from making large purchases.
Online, numerous Chinese reacted to the news by expressing their lack of enthusiasm for international travel.
According to Steve Saxon, a partner at McKinsey & Company, “40% of (Chinese) people say they will spend more on travel despite a cooling overall economy.” “People want to book international travel with the money they have saved through COVID-19.”
The biggest travel company in China, Trip.com, reported that the news has increased interest in places like Australia and Japan.
On hearing the announcement, shares of companies in the newest group of nations with significant exposure to Chinese travel demand increased. Grand Korea Leisure (114090.KS) and Paradise (034230.KQ), two South Korean casino operators, saw particularly impressive gains, rising 21% and 18%, respectively.
Since a 2016 disagreement over Seoul’s deployment of a U.S. missile defense system, group visits from China have not been permitted on a big scale, according to two sources in the South Korean travel business. China has never confirmed in the media that it restricts group travel to South Korea.
