China’s outbound group travel to 138 countries & regions resumes travel services

• China’s resumption of group tours could lead to the revival of the country’s $270 billion outbound travel spending

Beijing: China’s Tourism Rebound: Beijing resumed outbound group travel to 138 countries, regions on Friday and first outbound group tour went to Japan marking the beginning of new era in tourism.

China’s outbound group tourism services were suspended since January 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions and precautionary measures.

China’s resumption of group tours to dozens of more overseas destinations, including the U.S. and Japan could lead to the revival of the country’s $270 billion outbound travel spending after a COVID-era ban relaxation.

The travel destination list for China’s outbound group travelers include some 78 countries, including the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and the majority of European countries, bringing the total number of destinations for group tours to 138. Japan, South Korea, and the United States are one of the most popular destination.

China’s Travel agencies are now preparing product releases and marketing strategies to meet the growing demand.

Anticipating a promising tourism market, LI NAN Deputy General Manager, Outbound Travel Department, CTG Travel says “We’ve been waiting for the day for the full reopening. Our company and people from the outbound travel department are so happy to see the news. We’ve made a lot of preparations, such as collecting resources and suppliers of destinations, releasing new and innovative products, noticing changes in customer needs like niche destinations, and releasing products with high privacy, safety and innovation, as well as those suitable for families.”

Some managers of China’s Travel companies have also highlighted some challenges in the tourism industry. Flight capacity has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, and visa applications demand more time compared to before. They predict the period following the Spring Festival will be peak time for travel, saying the best times for the industry are yet to come.

Chinese passport holders get to enjoy travelling to 31 countries visa-free and 38 countries, and China’s source tourism market recoded 8.5 million outbound trips and 1.4 billion inbound trips in 2022.