Guilherme Carvalho made his first visit to China this month, and the Italian said one of the main factors behind the trip was the post-pandemic policy to scrap entry permits for some tourists. Previously, all foreign visitors had to go through the onerous process of applying for a Chinese visa. Now, visitors from more than a dozen countries can just fly in, and stay for up to 15 days.
“I didn’t expect to feel so safe,” said Carvalho, who visited Shanghai. “Everyone is so kind.” Carvalho is not alone. As the authorities focus on boosting foreign tourism in a bid to revive the economy and perk up sluggish consumer spending, thousands of visitors have flocked to China, encouraged by the visa policies and easier access to its unique digital payment services.
As of June 24, bookings from several countries under the visa policy including France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia and Thailand surged 150% year-on-year, data from China’s largest online travel agency Trip.com showed.
Bookings for July and August are also set to be higher. “We’re very excited to see the trend. Lots of people had some misunderstandings about China before they came, but after they arrived, they feel cities like Shanghai are very safe, very clean,” said Trip.com CEO Jane Sun.
Since December, China has granted visa-free entry to tourists from several countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Poland. Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have also struck agreements with Beijing to facilitate visa-free travel.
In the week that China announced visa-free travel for visitors from Australia and New Zealand, sales of tours jumped 133% compared to the previous week, said Yvette Thompson, general manager for sales and marketing for Australia and New Zealand at tour agency Intrepid Travel. “Coming out of COVID, visas are just another level of complexity for travellers. So to remove that complexity, I think is a good move,” she said.
