On August 10th, China announced the resumption of group tours to dozens of foreign destinations, including Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
According to Xinhua News Agency, starting from August 10th, travel companies and online tourism service providers in China are permitted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to offer group tours to a long list of countries. Specifically, the list includes over 70 countries/destinations, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, most European Union member states, India, Pakistan, Australia, and more.
Related services such as flight booking and hotel reservations will also be resumed.
The Chinese delegation is leaving Shanghai airport for Thailand earlier this year
As China had previously initiated a pilot program to revive outbound group tourism services for travel agencies, the foreign tourism market has stabilized and orderly operations, playing a positive role in promoting travel exchanges and cooperation. Therefore, after the pilot phase, China is allowing group tours to be expanded to most destinations worldwide.
China’s outbound group tourism market was temporarily suspended in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Subsequently, earlier this year, the country lifted restrictions on Chinese citizens’ overseas travel and encouraged cross-border tourism exchanges.
Since February, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism has conducted pilot group tours to 60 countries, divided into two phases, including destinations in Southeast Asia such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.
In 2019, China was the world’s largest outbound tourism market before the Covid-19 pandemic, with 169 million trips made during that year.
@Thanhnien.vn