China Travel tips

The head of China’s civil aviation regulator, Song Zhiyong, met with the U.S. Ambassador in Beijing Nicholas Burns, and exchanged views on pushing for a substantial increase in flights between the two countries, the regulator said on Wednesday.

The UEFA Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Germany has sparked a surge in sports tourism, particularly among Asian travelers, according to data from Trip.com Group.

China is opening its doors even wider to the world. Australia is now the latest country to join China’s expanding visa waiver program.

Turkey is ramping up efforts to attract Chinese tourists. A new memorandum of understanding between Turkey and China aims to bolster tourism cooperation, with Turkish Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy and Chinese counterpart Sun Yeli leading the charge in a meeting last week. 

China has announced a 15-day visa-free entry for citizens of six additional European countries: Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg.

On January 8, 2023, China reopened its borders for travel, ending a three-year closure during the Covid pandemic. Most analysts predicted a surge in travel. It didn’t happen. And one year later, the world is still waiting. 

Chinese holidaymakers’ spending surged during this year’s eight-day Golden Week holiday, beating pre-pandemic levels and potentially boosting confidence in the country’s economic recovery.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo arrived in Beijing late on Sunday for a four-day visit aimed at boosting business ties between the world’s two largest economies while declaring American national security trade measures off-limits for debate.

Searches on Chinese travel sites surged and social media platforms were flooded with delight and relief on Wednesday as the public cheered the biggest loosening of some of the world’s strictest Covid policies.

Airlines have boosted January international seat capacity to and from China by 9.5 percent over the last week as they ramp up flights after its border opening, according to aviation data provider Cirium, though flights remain at a fraction of pre-pandemic levels.

U.S. and European airlines will benefit from pent-up demand for travel to China after its recent border reopening, but route approvals, fresh Covid-19 testing rules and not enough large aircraft remain barriers to rising sales, analysts and industry officials say.

Chinese hotels and restaurants are seeking employees amid demand recovery in the services sector after the end of Beijing’s zero-COVID protocols, with a survey by a leading recruiter showing a surge in job openings in the hospitality industry.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to end on Friday mandatory Covid-19 tests for travelers from China, joining other countries in dropping the requirements, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters.

China said that it will reopen its borders to foreign tourists for the first time in the three years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic by restoring the issuance of all types of visas from Wednesday.

Hilton hopes to have 1,000 hotels operating in Asia Pacific by 2025 and sees opportunity at all tiers, but particularly in luxury brands and entry-level hotels.

When graduate student Cai Zhishan decided to spend her Labour Day holidays in northern China, she wished she had enough money to hire a car for the more-than 4,000km (2,500 mile) round trip – the equivalent of driving from New York to Los Angeles.

China’s three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday that concluded Saturday showed a noticeable revival in outbound travel, as evidenced by the increasing number of border crossings.

China recently announced the easing of restrictions on group tours and would-be travelers immediately started searching for trips. Online travel platform Ctrip reported a 20-fold increase in searches for outbound travel options.

Taiwan’s government on Thursday said it will from this month allow Chinese tourists and business people to visit again as it seeks to resume exchanges halted by the COVID-19 pandemic and extend an olive branch to Beijing.