Chinese tourists tips

China, the world’s largest outbound tourism market prior to the pandemic, is expected to continue making substantial progress in its recovery this year.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, April 17. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Chinese outbound tourism is steadily rebounding from the effects of the pandemic, with projections indicating a return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2025.

Yuwei Zhangzou represents a new type of Chinese tourist.

Chinese travelers are projected to make a record 9 billion domestic trips during the 40-day Lunar New Year period starting Friday, according to state-run news agency Xinhua. 

After much speculation, Thailand finally announced on Tuesday that it would grant visa-free entry to Indian citizens from November 10 till May 2024.

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.

A record number of Chinese are choosing to travel at home this Golden Week holiday, potentially boosting domestic consumption but disappointing travel agents who have been waiting for big-spending tourists to go back abroad since the pandemic ended.

Japan’s service-sector sentiment rebounded in February for the first time in four months, a government survey showed on Wednesday, a sign that the removal of COVID-19 curbs is giving a much-needed boost to the country’s sluggish consumption.

Urs Kessler, who runs Jungfrau Railways, a train that takes tourists up the highest mountain in Switzerland, was excited for the return of Chinese tourists after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted late last year.

Destinations throughout Africa are optimistic about getting a major tourism boost from China’s reopening to international travel.

Outbound travel from mainland China during the Labor Day holiday period reached a three-year high this year, according to data released by travel technology company Travelport.

Thailand received one million Chinese tourists between January and May 18, a government official said on Sunday, after China’s border reopening.

In a new Skift Research report, entitled Understanding the Chinese Traveler Post-Covid: ​Survey Findings and Trends​, we explore various stages of the Chinese travel journey, decode their spending habits, and offer key takeaways for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and travel suppliers.

A snapshot of 15 major U.S. hotel markets shows that travel to cities is rebounding, with one notable exception: San Francisco.

Overseas travel bookings from mainland China are currently at just over half of pre-pandemic levels but are on course to return to the 2019 numbers by the end of this year or early 2024, the head of online travel agency Agoda said on Thursday.

Chinese group tours are back in Japan but anyone banking on them arriving in droves and splashing around cash like they did before the pandemic is likely to be disappointed.

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.

Two weeks ago, China announced it is lifting restrictions on group travel to the United States and several other countries, a move that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo hailed as “a significant win for the U.S. travel and tourism industry.” Then she cut to the heart of the matter: U.S. tourism officials are pining for the return of Chinese tourists, by far the biggest spenders among global travelers.

Chinese tourists are returning.