Beijing has officially ended the ban on outbound group tours to multiple countries as part of its post-COVID measures, with notable destinations including the United States and Japan.
This announcement was made by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism in a statement issued on Thursday.
It’s important to remember that in 2020, China imposed a strict zero-Covid strategy, isolating itself from the rest of the world through measures such as visa suspensions and extended quarantines, all aimed at preventing the influx of virus cases.
It has been reported in the official statement that travel agencies across the nation, along with online travel companies, are poised to resume the operation of outbound group tours to an extensive list of over 70 countries, including destinations like the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea.
At the beginning of this year, the Chinese tour group was granted permission to take part in a trial initiative, enabling them to visit a limited number of countries. Among the chosen destinations were well-known tourist hotspots like Thailand, Italy, and France.
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The tourism ministry said outbound tourism had been developing in a stable manner since the start of the trial period, ‘playing a positive role in promoting tourism exchanges and cooperation’.
According to McKinsey, in 2019, China established itself as the global leader in outbound tourism, with mainland residents undertaking a remarkable 155 million trips abroad, making it the largest of such markets in the world.
In the last three years, there has been a notable decrease in the mentioned outflow, largely attributed to the measures taken by Chinese authorities to deter travel. These measures include restrictions on passport renewals and a deliberate reduction in international flight operations.
Early in December, Chinese authorities terminated the nation’s strategy of widespread testing, lockdown implementations, and extended quarantine measures. Regrettably, this abrupt reversal contributed to a notable rise in Covid cases.
Towards the end of December, Beijing made an announcement stating that as of January 8, inbound travellers to the country would be exempt from quarantine requirements. It’s important to note that visa restrictions for foreigners weren’t discontinued.
China resumed the issuance of different visas to foreigners in March, yet inbound tourism continues to operate at a mere fraction of the levels seen before the pandemic.