Chinese travel professionals, as well as exhibitors, are welcoming the return to the Arabian Travel Market of this year, which is being held at the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC) for the first time in three years.
The event’s 30th edition will be held from May 1 until May 4, after the improvement of the Coronavirus situation, VisaGuide.World reports.
Following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, authorities in China abolished all COVID-related measures on January 8 this year, thus permitting nationals from China to travel abroad without being obliged to follow mandatory quarantine requirements upon their arrival.
In addition, according to the eTurboNews report, bookings for overseas travel increased by a total of 540 percent during Chinese New Year, in comparison to the statistics for the same period last year.
Besides, the partner at McKinsey, based in Shenzhen, Steve Saxon, told CNN that the Chinese outbound market would recover to about six million per month by the summer of this year.
The Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, Danielle Curtis, said that China became the world’s top source market before the spread of the Coronavirus, in 2019, with a total of 155 million visitors who spent more than $250 billion overseas.
“However, its isolation from the global market over the past three years has set the industry back by an estimated $840 billion, equivalent, to 16 percent of the $1.7 trillion spent annually on global tourism, according to UNWTO,” Saxon pointed out.
At the same time, Dubai welcomed nearly one million visitors from China back in 2019, accounting for an increase of more than 15 percent compared to 2018 figures.
The report notes that famous destinations, including Dubai, Jordan, and Egypt, should be in a strong position in order to benefit from the predicted rebound of Chinese visitor numbers.
“We have noticed a considerable number of inquiries recently from travel professionals in China. Even though we would not expect the same volume of Chinese exhibitors and visitors we received before the pandemic in 2019, we are confident of healthy participation numbers this year,” she added.
The figures provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) revealed that a total of 761,402,282 people have tested positive for the Coronavirus in China since the beginning of the pandemic, while 6,887,000 people have died.
However, the situation has marked a significant improvement. According to a report provided by South China Morning Post, flight bookings in China have recorded pre-pandemic levels, while the numbers are expected to increase further.
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