China has recently been making efforts to attract international tourists through favorable policies, with great success.
Following the announcement of visa-free travel for Australians and New Zealanders, China’s National Immigration Administration released impressive travel data for the May Day Golden Week and the recently concluded Dragon Boat Festival.
According to the National Immigration Administration, a total of 8.47 million international and domestic tourists crossed China’s borders during this year’s May Day holiday.
In particular, the number of visitors from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan was 2.92 million, up 20.8% from the previous year, and the number of foreign visitors was 779,000, a significant increase of 98.7% from the same period last year.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, 5.75 million people traveled in and out of China, including 2.78 million from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, up 66.1% from last year. The number of foreign tourists during the festival was 507,000, up 57% from last year.
Of all China’s ports of entry, Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport was the busiest.
On June 16, Pudong International Airport handled 103,213 international passengers in a single day, setting a new four-year record, including 31,500 foreigners and 9,400 travelers from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
So far this year, immigration checkpoints at Shanghai airport have processed more than three million foreign travelers, three times as many as during the same period last year.
These travelers were mainly visiting China for tourism, business and family reunions, with the largest numbers coming from the United States, Japan and South Korea.
The visa-free policy has led to a huge increase in the number of foreign tourists entering China through Shanghai’s airport, with 446,000 entering without a visa this year, ten times as many as last year.
The surge represents a key highlight of border traffic this year, as the visa waiver policy is a game changer for both tourism and business.
Has the visa waiver policy increased your interest in traveling to China? What are your thoughts?
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[Cover image by Billy Jiang/That’s]
