Foreign tourists complete immigration procedures and prepare to go sightseeing in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on April 7, 2024. (Xinhua/Sun Yat-sen)
SANYA, June 26 (Xinhua) — China’s inbound tourism market is continuing to recover this year, with foreign tourist numbers expected to reach 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, according to the latest industry report released on Tuesday.
The China Tourism Academy has released the China Inbound Tourism Development Report (2023-2024) for Sanya city in southern China’s Hainan province.
According to the report, there has been a significant increase in the number of international tourists searching for flights and accommodation to China, suggesting growing potential demand for travel to China.
With the continuous resumption of international flight operations, further improvement of entry convenience and inbound tourism supply chain, and vigorously promoting tourist destinations across China, the outlook for the inbound tourism market is relatively bright, the report said.
According to the report, more than 60 percent of those surveyed cited experiencing Chinese culture as their top reason for traveling to China, making Chinese culture and high-quality life experiences the destination’s main attractions.
He added that other attractive experiences such as good food, medical services and shopping are also on his travel bucket list.
According to statistics released by the National Immigration Administration, the number of foreigners who visited China in the first quarter of this year tripled compared to the same period last year. In particular, about 1.98 million foreigners entered China without a visa in the first three months of this year, up 266 percent from the same period last year.
