China’s visa exemptions for citizens from selected countries are contributing to a resurgence in inbound tourism nationwide, official data and the latest market research shows.

International visitors made 14.64 million entries into China in the first half of this year, up by 153% from the same period in 2023, according to figures from the National Immigration Administration. Some 8.54 million entries were made using visa exemptions, accounting for 52% of the total and representing a year-on-year increase of 190%.

Last year, China began piloting unilateral visa waivers for countries including France, Germany, and Australia, in addition to implementing mutual visa-exemption agreements with Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Thirty-eight open ports in 18 provinces also offer 72-hour or 144-hour visa-free transit to travelers from 54 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, and Japan, provided they have an onward ticket to a third country.

So, which domestic destinations are benefiting most from this resurgence in overseas visitors?

In terms of hotel bookings made by international tourists, the 10 most popular cities in the first half of this year were Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Chongqing, Kunming, Xi’an, and Nanjing, according to Trip.com, a major online travel agency. However, compared with 2023, some niche destinations have emerged.

For example, Zhangjiajie, a scenic spot in the central Hunan province known for its caves and jagged stone columns, received 261,200 overseas visitors in the first quarter, nearly 48 times the figure for the same period in 2023 and 44% higher than in the first quarter of 2019, data from the provincial culture and tourism authority shows. These tourists came from 101 countries and regions including South Korea, the U.S., Russia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Ticket sales for flights to Yuncheng, a city in the northern Shanxi province, also jumped by 89% and 246% in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2023 and 2019, respectively, according to Trip.com. The surge can be partially attributed to a mutual visa-exemption agreement with Thailand, introduced on March 1. Yuncheng is the birthplace of Guan Yu, a warrior who features prominently in the Chinese classic “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” which has long been popular among the Thai people and is even referenced in school textbooks. The city’s first direct international flight route, launched in 2017, was to Bangkok, the Thai capital.

Flight frequency appears to have some effect when choosing a destination. Beyond the major hubs of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, inbound tourists from neighboring Asian countries appear to prefer arriving at Chinese cities with the most convenient connections.

For instance, Dalian, in the northeastern Liaoning province, has 57 weekly flights to Japan and is just two hours by plane from Tokyo. The Chinese city is home to 1,500 Japanese-funded enterprises and has the highest Japanese language proficiency rate in the country. Meanwhile, 122 weekly flights from South Korea land in Qingdao, on the east coast of Shandong province, home to roughly 100,000 Koreans at its peak.

Soft landing

The ongoing resurgence in China’s inbound tourism is undoubtedly tied to the growing number of international flights since early 2023, part of the global post-pandemic recovery.

The busiest route in terms of flights so far this year has been between Shanghai and Tokyo. Weekly flights have risen from 14 in 2022 to as high as 186 in June this year, one an hour on average, according to Flight Master, an online platform sharing travel industry data. However, the total number of China-Japan flights in the first week of June was still 77% down on the same period in 2019.

“The European market is where Air China is investing the most in terms of international capacity, with 32 routes and 53 daily flights between China and Europe,” a spokesperson for the national flag carrier said at a recent news conference, adding that the number of flights is up by 16% compared with 2019. The latest Flight Master figures show flights from China to the U.K. and Italy are both higher than five years ago.

In contrast, the recovery in routes between North America and China has been slower. Willie Walsh, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, explains that one reason for this is the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has closed Russian airspace to U.S. airlines, significantly increasing the cost of operating China-U.S. routes. There are currently just 95 weekly flights between the two countries, compared with 359 in 2019.

International tourists may have returned to the streets of China, but the connection between China and the world is still en route to recovery.

Reported by Shu Yi’er.

A version of this article originally appeared in The Paper. It has been translated and edited for brevity and clarity, and is republished here with permission.

Translator: Wang Jingyang; graphic designers: Wei Yao and Luo Yahan; editors: Xue Ni and Hao Qibao.

(Header image: Tourists visit the Forbidden City in Beijing, July 9, 2024. Jia Tianyong/CNS/VCG)