CHINA. In important news for the travel retail sector, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China announced yesterday (20 January) that outbound group tours can resume from 6 February.
A pilot scheme to operate outbound tours on an ‘air ticket + hotel’ business to 20 “relevant” countries will commence on that date, the Ministry said in a statement obtained by The Moodie Davitt Report.
The countries (in alphabetical order) are:
Argentina
Cambodia
Cuba
Egypt
Fiji
Hungary
Indonesia
Kenya
Laos
Malaysia
Maldives
New Zealand
Philippines
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
“All localities should fully understand the significance of the pilot resumption of travel agencies operating Chinese citizens’ outbound group tours to relevant countries to promote the recovery and development of the tourism industry,” the General Office of the Ministry said.
Notable absentees include Japan and South Korea, historically popular destinations for Chinese group tourists. Both countries drew strong criticism from China after recently strengthening their border controls for travellers from China amid claimed fears over COVID spreading. In response to what it damned as “discriminatory” action, Beijing halted issuing visas to citizens of both countries.
The biggest beneficiary to date appears to be Thailand. Chinese state media Global Times reported that following the introduction of the new policy, searches for overseas destinations on Chinese online travel platform Mafengwo surged by over +300 percent, with Thailand the most popular choice with a +350 percent increase. ✈
