Foreign tourist arrivals to China suddenly surge as visa relaxations fuel travel searches

Travel platforms such as Fliggy and Trip.com see huge influx in interest as Beijing makes it easier to transit

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A tourist from Thailand poses for a photo in front of the Wukang Building in Shanghai on December 3. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:00am, 20 Dec 2024Updated: 1:00pm, 20 Dec 2024

Within minutes of China announcing its latest relaxation of visa rules for foreign travellers this week, searches on travel platform Trip.com skyrocketed.

The travel service provider said its North American site saw a 163 per cent surge in the first half-hour, while searches on its European site were up 85 per cent. Inquiries from Canada, France and Russia led the pack.

Tuesday’s decision by Beijing to extend visa-free transit to 10 days – up from only three to six days – for passport holders of 54 nations came just weeks after clearing citizens of 38 countries to enter visa-free for up to a month.

Tourism to China from the countries eligible for visa-free transit has grown by 189 per cent this year over 2023, according to Trip.com data.

The relaxation of entry restrictions have followed Beijing’s push to attract more foreign tourists and investors since the country lifted its pandemic travel restrictions and reopened borders in January 2023. President Xi Jinping has also called for “building national strength in tourism” and increasing people-to-people exchanges, including with the US.

China’s abundant tourist attractions, cultural heritage, relatively low prices and new visa-free arrival arrangements have been enticing foreigner travellers this month – a time of the year when school holidays in parts of Asia normally lead to an increase in travel anyway.