On January 8, policies and measures to optimize immigration management after the novel coronavirus infected "Class B and B tubes" were officially implemented. In light of the international epidemic situation and its ability to provide services, China has resumed outbound tourism for Chinese citizens in an orderly manner in line with the principle of pilot programs. The global tourism market has responded enthusiastically and welcomed Chinese tourists. It is widely believed in the international community that China's optimization and adjustment of epidemic prevention and control measures, simplification of entry and exit procedures, and resumption of outbound tourism will help boost global tourism and economic recovery, and add more vitality to China-foreign exchanges and people-to-people exchanges.

Many countries warmly welcomed Chinese tourists

Cruise along the Nile, explore the mysteries of ancient Egypt at the pyramids, and experience life at the Hariri Market in Cairo's Old City. Rabib, general manager of Egypt Spring Tour, introduced the favorite Tours of Chinese tourists to the reporter. "Egypt welcomes tourists from China with open arms, which is very important for the revival of Egypt's tourism industry!" Rabib says tourism is an important economic pillar and foreign currency earner for Egypt. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, tourism in Egypt has been hit hard, and the performance of the travel agency has dropped significantly. "China's announcement that it will resume travel for Chinese citizens to countries where it is possible gives us hope. The Chinese tour guide of the travel agency will resume work soon. We look forward to the Chinese friends visiting Egypt as soon as possible."

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, before the outbreak of the epidemic, China was one of the world's top outbound tourism consumers. The optimized and adjusted epidemic prevention policy will have a positive impact on tourism development in China and around the world.

"Before the pandemic, China was the world's largest source of outbound tourists, with about 150 million outbound tourists in 2019." Steve Saxen, head of McKinsey's Asia travel practice, said in a previous interview that the proportion of Chinese tourists traveling abroad will recover to about 50 percent before the pandemic by the summer of 2023.

Overseas destinations are expected to see a large number of outbound Chinese tourists during this year's Spring Festival. According to Ctrip, as of Jan. 5, 7-day overseas travel orders for the Spring Festival surged 540 percent from the same period last year, and the average cost of orders rose 32 percent year-on-year. Among them, the Spring Festival travel orders to Melbourne, Australia increased by more than 50 times, and the travel orders to Bangkok, Thailand increased by more than 10 times.

"Cambodia welcomes Chinese tourists." Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said his country is expected to receive 2 million Chinese tourists this year, which will drive a rapid economic recovery.

China is the largest source of tourists to Thailand. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the return of Chinese tourists will further boost Thailand's tourism industry, with 300,000 Chinese tourists expected to visit Thailand in the first quarter of this year and 5 million Chinese tourists expected to visit Thailand for the whole year.

Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao website reported that China's orderly resumption of outbound tourism by Chinese citizens will bring Chinese tourists back to Singapore and boost local consumption, which is estimated to generate retail sales of Singapore $2 billion for the whole year.

Statistics New Zealand showed that about 1,000 Chinese tourists arrived in New Zealand in the first week of December 2022, a significant increase from three months earlier. New Zealand Tourism Minister Steve Nash said many tourism operators are looking forward to the return of Chinese tourists, which will bring significant benefits to New Zealand's tourism industry.

Get ready for Chinese tourists

At present, some countries are taking active measures to welcome Chinese tourists. The Thai Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Ministry of Transport recently held a joint meeting to discuss preparations for welcoming Chinese tourists, stressing that all inbound foreign tourists are treated equally.

Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates has announced that it will expand its ABU Dhabi-Shanghai round-trip passenger service to two flights per week from February. With the new flights, Etihad Airways will operate five flights a week between the two countries. Martin Drew, senior Vice President, Passenger and Cargo Sales, Etihad Airways Group, said: "China is one of Etihad's most important strategic markets. It is good to see that China is constantly optimizing and adjusting its epidemic prevention and control measures. We are restoring passenger services to China in an orderly and stable manner to prepare for the reception of Chinese tourists."

Statistics show that before the epidemic, the number of Chinese tourists to Vietnam grew rapidly, reaching 5.8 million in 2019, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the country's total international tourists. Vietnam Airlines and China Southern Airlines are planning to resume flights, the head of the tourism department in central Khanh Hoa province said recently. Mong Street in Vietnam's northern Quang Ninh province has asked local tourist attractions to make preparations to receive Chinese tourists during the Chinese Spring Festival as soon as possible.

Launched the "South Africa Tourism Assistant" mini program of South Africa Tourism Bureau, held the online live broadcast of "Sunset Animal Tracking Trip", and organized 3 offline communication and promotion activities for the public and media in Fuzhou, Hangzhou and Suzhou... Since last year, the South African Tourism Board has launched a series of promotional activities in China. "We look forward to the resumption of outbound tourism from China," said Mansour Mohamed, South Africa Tourism's chief representative for Asia Pacific. South Africa gives top priority to the safety, health and hygiene of its tourists. We hope that Chinese tourists can visit South Africa with peace of mind and experience the unique charm of the 'Rainbow Nation'."

"At present, we have strengthened our contacts with Chinese travel agencies and are ready to receive Chinese visitors to Moscow." Yevgeny Kozlov, chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, said Russia will not only offer traditional travel advice to Chinese tourists, but also actively launch new tour routes to give tourists a new perspective on Moscow.

People-to-people exchanges will be more frequent

Nearly 60 formations, more than 20 floats, 2500 participants; Chinese traditional clothing, Spring Festival cultural elements and new energy vehicles on the same stage; The Spring Festival market is full of beautiful things, allowing local people to experience the Chinese New Year flavor... The "Happy Chinese New Year" parade in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will resume on January 14, and Chinese tourists will soon be crowded again. "We are looking forward to the orderly resumption of outbound tourism by Chinese citizens." Mazekai, CEO of the UAE Embrace China Executive Committee, said that the arrival of Chinese tourists will help the recovery and development of the UAE's tourism industry. More importantly, people from both sides can meet face to face and enhance mutual understanding. "We are willing to continue to build Bridges between the two peoples and promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields."

In 2023, China and Pakistan will hold the China-Pakistan Year of Tourism Exchange. Aftab Ur Rahman Rana, general manager of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation, said the Pakistani side has started to prepare for the reception of Chinese tourists. The company has specially produced manuals in Chinese to introduce Pakistan's tourism resources and serve Chinese tourists. Pakistan International Airlines has announced the resumption of flights between Islamabad and Beijing. "With the implementation of the orderly resumption of citizens' outbound travel policy, China is bound to bring positive impact to the development of the global tourism economy." Rana said that Pakistan will strengthen cultural and tourism exchanges with China through coordination among various departments to promote people-to-people bond.

The culture and tourism industry is a pillar of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's economic transformation plan. Saudi Arabia plans to boost tourism and launch more tourism services targeted at Chinese tourists. Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed al-Khatib said, "China is an important source of tourists. We are glad to see that China has resumed outbound tourism in an orderly manner. Saudi Arabia will strengthen cooperation with its Chinese partners in this regard."

Evandro Carvalho, director of the Brazilia-China Research Center of the Vargas Foundation of Brazil, said that China is a big consumer of outbound tourism, and the orderly resumption of outbound tourism by Chinese citizens will certainly have a positive impact on the economies of tourist destinations. "I look forward to Chinese tourists exploring the charm of Brazil and believe that in the future, China and other countries will have more frequent people-to-people exchanges and promote world connectivity."