Chinese travelers are expected to mark a comeback in tourism to different countries, indicating the pent-up desire to travel after a long period of no traveling activity and many policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, experts reveal that tourist destinations should be prepared for a complete shift of Chinese travelers; there will no longer be travelers that hop on a plane and fly across the world as there were in 2019, VisaGuide.World reports.
According to Steve Saxon, a partner in McKinsey Shenzhen, countries must apply new norms to serve the Chinese market, first of all, by offering easier entry rules, just like Thailand, the Middle East, and Singapore.
Furthermore, China’s largest online travel agency Trip.com has revealed that pent-up demand was noticed during the Lunar New Year holiday, the first major holiday, following the relaxation of China’s border restrictions.
Overall, travel bookings on the platform increased by 640 percent compared to a similar period in 2022, with outbound air ticket and hotel bookings by overseas tourists booking 400 percent more rooms.
Furthermore, the CEO of the Chinese Outbound Tourism Research Institute, Wolfgang Arlt, pointed out that there are many types of Chinese travelers, with someone wanting to try local food, some others trying educational activities while someone else opting for a wine tasting tour.
In addition, the European Travel Commission (ETC) has revealed that travel from China is expected to stall behind pre-pandemic levels by 60 to 70 percent in 2023. However, the upside scenario of more positive rates shows that Chinese travel is expected to be 50 percent below 2019 levels.
“Full recovery to 2019 levels of Chinese travel to Europe is not anticipated until 2026 in the baseline outlook – it will take time to restore long-haul traveler confidence. China accounted for ten percent of long-haul travel to Europe in 2019,” ETC explains in a report.
On the other hand, the tourism industry in China is expected to bloom after COVID-19 measures are relaxed. More specifically, job openings in the catering and hotel sectors surged by 40 percent during China’s Lunar New Year holiday between January 22 to January 28. Job openings also surged in passenger vehicle and freight truck driving, airplane, and train crews – recording an 85.2 percent increase.
The season generated more job openings – 58.9 percent more than in the previous years, while workers’ positions in the manufacturing sector increased by 42.2 percent. Chinese tourists are expected to restore tourism levels, as they spent 170 million on outbound trips in 2019.
The post Chinese Travel is Rebounding, but Travel Patterns Have Changed appeared first on VisaGuide.World.
