No immediate surge of Chinese tourists after reopening

29-12-22

China's easing of COVID-19 rules for international arrivals has raised hopes that its multi-billion-dollar travel business will soon flourish again, but countries yearning for the return of Chinese tourists are likely to have to wait longer.

China's National Health Commission announced on Monday that incoming travellers will no longer have to enter quarantine from January 8. There are no official restrictions on Chinese going abroad, but the new rule will make it much easier for them to return home.

China was the world's largest outbound tourism market before COVID disrupted global travel, and its foreign visitors spent $127.5 billion on travel in 2019.

Airlines are drawing up plans to expand their services, but ordinary Chinese and travel agents suggest a return to something resembling normality will take some time.

"It's great that they've announced it so I can make my plans in earnest," said Peking exporter Tom Guo, 43.

However, he said he is likely to wait until late spring or even summer before venturing abroad again, most likely to the United States to visit a sister.

German airline Lufthansa was considering altering its schedule of flights to China as a result of the changes. "This will contribute to the recovery of international air traffic between mainland China and Europe," a spokesman said.

TUI expects a positive impact on its currently limited flights to China, a spokesman said.

Duty-free retailer Dufry expects the changes to have a "positive effect on the airports used by the Chinese and where we are present," a spokesperson said.

Many others have taken heart from this week's news of an imminent relaxation of the rules to start making plans.

Data from travel platform Ctrip showed that, half an hour after the announcement, searches for popular cross-border destinations had increased tenfold. The Qunar platform said searches for international flights increased sevenfold within 15 minutes.

Japan, Thailand and South Korea are among the most searched destinations on both platforms. However, no immediate increase in international travel is expected.