Dai Bin | Growth, Change and Attention - China's Inbound and Outbound Tourism Market Situation and Policy Outlook

At the invitation of the Thai Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA) and with the approval of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy, went to Thailand on October 29 to attend the 2024 Thailand International Travel Agents Conference and delivered a keynote speech entitled "Growth, Change and Concern - China's Inbound and Outbound Tourism Market Situation and Policy Outlook". The full text is shared as follows:

As a lifestyle

Outbound tourism and safety concerns

In the past two years, as economic and social development has entered a new stage of normal development, the Chinese people's curiosity about the world has been reawakened, and the outbound tourism market has recovered rapidly. In the first three quarters of 2024, the number of Chinese outbound tourists reached nearly 95 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.0%, recovering to 82% of 2019. During the seven-day National Day holiday this year, the number of outbound tourists reached 2.677 million. The basic market position of Hong Kong and Macao, as well as the market structure dominated by short-distance tourism in Southeast Asia and East Asia, have not changed. The destinations of countries along the Belt and Road, especially in West Asia and North Africa, have increased significantly. Affected by regional conflicts, the recovery of aviation supply chain and tourism market growth in long-distance markets such as Europe and the United States is not satisfactory. In terms of the number of international flights, the number of flights in East Asia and Southeast Asia accounts for 76% of China's international flights, and the number of international flights in countries along the Belt and Road accounts for 60% of China's total international flights. Relatively speaking, the recovery of aviation capacity in Europe and North America has not met expectations.

From the perspective of outbound tourism flow and volume, individual needs and self-guided travel have begun to drive the growth of niche destination countries and cities. Thirty years ago, when Chinese people went out for travel, they would talk about Europe, North America, South America and Africa. Twenty years ago, they would talk about routes such as "Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand + Hong Kong and Macao" or regions such as the five Central Asian countries. Ten years ago, they would talk about Thailand, France and New Zealand. What about now? They will talk about a certain city, an island or a resort. More and more destination countries and regions that have never been heard of in the past have begun to enter the options of outbound tourists, and more and more non-traditional resources have begun to become the reason for outbound travel. People even visit a country, city and village for a sporting event, a concert, a specialty restaurant or seasonal food. From the perspective of consumer behavior, it used to be "walk, walk and walk", and the seven-day ten-country tour in Europe was a hot seller. Later, it was "buy, buy and buy", and Chinese tourists were regarded as "walking wallets".

What about now? Tourists going abroad have slowed down their pace and are more willing to pay for a better life. They want to stay in better hotels, eat better food, visit museums and art galleries, watch high-level art performances, and hope to discover some small but exquisite, small but beautiful, small but warm life scenes and experience them in depth. For example, the Malaysian Tourism Board has been promoting Malaysia's offshore fishing, deep sea fishing, shallow water fishing, deep water fishing and other fishing experience projects for more than 100 million fishing enthusiasts in China since 2008. Modern technologies such as artificial intelligence have profoundly changed the way people communicate and interact with each other. Language and payment are no longer obstacles to outbound travel. With the help of large models and life applications, more and more tourists take local public transportation by themselves, freely enter and exit theaters and vegetable markets, and turn cities, neighborhoods and villages in foreign countries into new spaces for a better life shared by hosts and guests.

Based on leading indicators such as macroeconomics, market policies and travel intentions, we expect that China's outbound tourism market will be close to the 2019 level in 2024, and we are full of positive and optimistic expectations for the coming 2025.

President Xi Jinping pointed out that reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles have been the fine traditions of the Chinese nation since ancient times, and traveling abroad is especially what the people yearn for. Chinese-style modernization is the modernization of the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilizations. The Chinese people have historically solved the "two worries and three guarantees", that is, the poor people have no worries about food and clothing, basic medical care, housing security and compulsory education. After the comprehensive realization of a well-off society, the development concept pays more attention to the needs of high-quality life including tourism. This is the most fundamental reason why we always maintain an optimistic outlook and confidence in the development of China's outbound tourism market. Traveling around the world with a Chinese passport is becoming more and more free and convenient. Every year, thousands of people say "Let's go to Bangkok this weekend" and "Let's go to Phuket next holiday", just as naturally as saying "Let's take a two-day break in the suburbs this weekend."

More and more overseas destinations have systematically studied and accurately understood the travel behaviors and consumption trends of Chinese tourists. Travel agencies have launched targeted products such as family tours, parent-child tours, study tours, and vacation tours to major source markets, and even accompany tourists to taste local specialties, seasonal seafood, or deeply experience local music, art, crafts, and folk customs. These are trends we are happy to see. We hope that more Chinese tourists will share the good life in foreign countries in overseas tourist destinations, improve their comprehensive quality, and enhance their cultural confidence in civilization dialogue and cultural exchanges. The government will no longer pursue maintaining a tourism trade surplus with any country at any time, nor will it easily adopt trade and non-trade barriers to control outbound tourism.

The safety and quality of hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens traveling abroad are also areas of focus for us. The protection of personal freedom and property safety of tourists during their travels and during their stay at the destination requires the public security departments and cultural and tourism departments of various countries to strengthen cooperation. For example, on the basis of summarizing experience, we should explore and promote the joint patrol mechanism of Chinese and foreign tourist police, so that tourists can freely and safely enter any space that is not prohibited by law. Quality comes before safety. We hope that destination cities, especially hotels, restaurants, museums and other tourist reception places, will have more Chinese signs, Chinese food and Chinese services. Commercial organizations have always been the most stable and reliable driving force for tourism development. We hope that Chinese and foreign travel service providers, and travel service providers and resource suppliers will cooperate more closely to provide high-quality services for Chinese outbound tourists.

China's growth exceeds expectations

Inbound Tourism and Policy Innovation

Inbound tourism has always been the focus of China's tourism work and the driving force of policy innovation. Since the second half of last year, the central government has successively introduced visa, immigration, port and consumption payment facilitation policies, and the state and local governments have continuously increased the promotion of cultural exchanges and tourism with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. As of mid-October this year, China has achieved full visa exemption for ordinary passports with 24 countries, implemented unilateral visa-free entry for 20 countries, and implemented 72/144-hour transit visa exemption for 54 countries. Citizens of 40 countries can enter directly without a visa, and citizens of 32 countries can enter through 72/144-hour transit visa exemption. The payment facilitation measures of "large-amount card swiping, small-amount code scanning, and cash guarantee" have effectively improved the consumption experience of foreign inbound tourists. Under the framework of bilateral tourism years such as China-France and multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the cultural and tourism departments have actively promoted the new image of "Hello! China" national tourism, effectively mobilizing the market enthusiasm of overseas travel agents. Inbound tourism is entering a new channel for rapid recovery and a new stage of prosperity and development.

The basic inbound market for Hong Kong and Macao residents has become more solid, the inbound tourism market for foreigners has achieved growth beyond expectations, and has steadily entered a new stage of rapid recovery. In the first half of 2024, 14.635 million foreigners entered China. Excluding non-tourists such as those working, studying, and transportation passengers, the number of foreign tourists coming to China was 11.948 million, recovering to about 70% of the same period in 2019. Judging from the quarterly data, both year-on-year and month-on-month growth was significant. In the second half of the year, the inbound tourism market for foreigners is expected to return to the same level as the same period in 2019 and enter a new cycle of prosperity and development.

With the increase in the degree of opening up to the outside world, more and more public cultural and leisure places have become a new space for a better life shared by hosts and guests, meeting the diversified, personalized and quality needs of inbound tourists to China. Driven by entry facilitation policies such as visa-free and payment, as well as the spread of more information about China and Chinese tourism on social media, and the fact that international tourists themselves pay more attention to personalized experience, the trend of individual inbound tourism has become more prominent. Inbound tourists tend to avoid popular tourist destinations and choose to go to alternative destinations with fewer people or lower costs. Inbound tourists from Thailand generally choose non-first-tier cities. Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing and other places are the most visited provinces and cities by Thai tourists. Xishuangbanna, which is closer to Thai culture, is a popular destination. The continuous improvement of travel convenience in China will further encourage inbound tourists to enter the living space of the destination more widely, increase the depth of travel experience in China, and make the experience content more life-like. The lifestyle of domestic tourists and local residents has become the most popular experience content for inbound tourists. While the number of inbound tourists and tourism spending have steadily increased, the satisfaction of foreign tourists has also steadily increased. In the first and second quarters of 2024, it was 81.7 and 82.9 respectively, both exceeding the historical average, and showing a trend of continuous improvement. Building a strong tourism nation requires top-level design, local exploration, and the concerted efforts of the tourism industry.

Based on leading indicators such as the global economy, visa and payment facilitation policies, national tourism image building and market promotion, we remain optimistic about the inbound tourism market in 2025 and the future.

While the convenience of inbound tourism such as visas, immigration, customs, and ports is further improved, accommodation, sightseeing, and payment in China will also be more convenient. In March 2024, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience", increasing the deployment of foreign currency exchange business outlets and foreign card swiping equipment to improve the payment convenience of inbound tourists. In July 2024, the Ministry of Commerce and seven other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Several Measures to Serve High-Level Opening-up and Facilitate Accommodation for Overseas Personnel", clarifying that relevant parties should not use qualification requirements as a threshold to restrict accommodation operators from receiving overseas personnel and improve the accommodation experience of overseas personnel. China will also improve the convenience of scenic spot tickets, car (ship) ticket reservations, multilingual services, etc., and the overall convenience of traveling in China will be further improved.

When "Hello! China"

Meet "Magical Thailand"

China and Thailand have always been important tourist destinations for each other, and they are also the fastest recovering tourist markets. As early as the 1990s, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore became synonymous with Chinese citizens' overseas travel. From 2008 to 2019, Chinese citizens' travel to Thailand maintained a sustained and rapid growth trend, with an average annual growth rate of 29.1%. In 2019, 10.3645 million Chinese citizens traveled to Thailand as their first stop. In 2019, 870,500 Thai tourists came to China, ranking among the top ten source countries of the "Belt and Road". Affected by favorable factors such as mutual visa exemption and market promotion, China and Thailand are also the fastest recovering source markets for each other. The number of flights from Beijing to Bangkok has returned to the level before the epidemic, with an average of 8-9 flights per week, and almost every provincial capital has flights to Thailand. During the National Day holiday, there were more than 960 flights from China to Thailand, an increase of more than 110 flights over the previous week. Data from the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports showed that from January to September this year, Thailand received a total of 5.25 million Chinese tourists, making them Thailand's largest source of tourists.

China and Thailand have been promoting the steady and long-term development of high-quality tourism, and have received high scores in tourist satisfaction. In 2023, the satisfaction of Chinese tourists to Thailand was 81.87 points, ranking sixth among outbound tourism destinations. Chinese tourists gave high scores to Thailand's destination image, attitude of local residents, cost-effectiveness, leisure and entertainment, and shopping. The satisfaction of Thai tourists coming to China in 2023 was 83.48, which was significantly higher than the overall satisfaction of inbound tourists. In addition to the inconvenience of English communication, the hotel's geographical location, the cleanliness and comfort of the room, and the professional quality of the company's employees were all highly evaluated. It is worth mentioning that Thai tourists believe that China not only cooks good Chinese food, but also very authentic Thai food. We have noticed that Chinese tourists traveling to Thailand are mainly young people aged 22 to 45, and about 80% of Chinese tourists choose to travel independently, buy hotel vacation packages or join small private tour groups. Judging from the survey data, this most dynamic group of customers is fully looking forward to and satisfied with the quality of tourism in Thailand.

The tourism exchanges between China and Thailand benefit from political mutual trust, people-to-people exchanges, economic and trade exchanges, and the mutual efforts of tourism departments and the tourism industry. In April 2012, China and Thailand established a comprehensive strategic partnership. In 2022, President Xi Jinping went to Bangkok to attend the APEC meeting and officially visited Thailand. In 2024, China and Thailand implemented a mutual visa exemption policy. Not long ago, Princess Sirindhorn, who was nearly 70 years old, ended her 51st visit to China for 7 days. From Beijing to Sichuan, a new chapter of the friendly friendship of "China and Thailand are one family" was written all the way. In the first half of this year, 477,100 Thai tourists visited China, accounting for about 4% of the inbound tourism market for foreigners to China, while in 2019 before the epidemic, this figure was less than 3%. Data from major tourist destinations such as Beijing and Hainan show that the inbound tourism market in Thailand has set a record high. From January to August this year, Beijing received more than 60,000 inbound tourists from Thailand, 1.7 times that of 2019. Hainan Province received about 13,000 inbound tourists from Thailand, 1.3 times that of 2019. At present, tourism exchanges between China and Thailand are ushering in new opportunities for prosperity and development, and it is believed that they will soon recover and exceed the historical peak.

I hope more Chinese tourists will go to Thailand for sightseeing, leisure and vacation, and I hope the Thai government and tourism industry can provide Chinese tourists with higher safety and quality assurance. I hope more Thai tourists can come to China like Princess Sirindhorn and experience a China that inherits culture and creates for the future, a China that is rejuvenating the nation and making its people happy, and an open and inclusive China where hosts and guests share the same destiny.

Growth, Changesand Concerns

--Questionsabout Inbound and Outbound Tourism from China

October 29, 2024, Bangkok

I.Outbound travel as a lifestyle and security concernsInthe past two years, as China entered a new normal in economic and socialdevelopment, Chinese people regained their curiosity about the world, and theoutbound tourism market was fueled to recover. In the first three quarters of2024, there were near 95 million Chinese tourists travelling abroad, up by 52%to 82% as in 2019. China saw 2.677 million outbound trips during the 7-dayNational Day holiday this year. Tourists from Hong Kong and Macao stillunderlie Chinese tourism market, and Chinese tourists mainly choose SoutheastAsia and East Asia for short-distance travels. The BRI countries, especially WestAsian and North African regions witnessed a notable increase in the number oftourists from China. Shocked by regional conflicts, long-distance destinationslike Europe and US suffered slowdown in recovering their airline supply chainsand tourism markets. In light of the number of international flights, thenumber of flights to East Asia and Southeast Asia constituted 76% of the totalnumber of flights outbound from China, and that of flights to BRI countriesaccounted for 60%. Relatively speaking, the capacity of airline to Europe andUS failed to recover as expected.Interms of outbound tourist flow and traffic, personalized needs and self-guidedtravels became the growth driver for niche destination countries and cities.Chinese tourists would travel to Europe, North America, South America andAfrica 30 years ago; or to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macao,or the five countries in Central Asia 20 years ago; or to Thailand, France andNew Zealand 10 years ago. How about now? They may say they would like to go toa certain city, island or resort. More and more unknown destination countriesand regions are being highly sought after by tourists. More and morenon-traditional resources account for outbound travels. People may travel to acountry, city or rural area for a sports event, a concert, a feature restaurantor seasonal foods. Looking at consumer behaviors, Chinese tourists used to “go,go, go”, showing strong appetite for the 7-day travel route to ten countries.Later we turned to “buy, buy, buy”. Chinese tourists are hence known as a “walkingwallet”.Howabout now? Chinese tourists would not like to travel abroad as they did in thepast. We are more willing to pay for a good life, stay in a high-graderestaurant or taste delicious foods. We might visit a museum or an art gallery,or watch a high-level artist show, in hope to find some pretty, exquisite, andwarm life scenes and deeply appreciate them. Tourism Malaysia, for example, hasconsistently promoted a wide range of fishing programs like near-sea fishing,deep-sea fishing, shallow-water fishing and deep-water fishing for over 100 million fishing fans from China since 2008. AI and other modern technologies haveradically changed the way we communicate and socialize, and language andpayment do no longer prevent us from travelling abroad. By use of large-modeland life applications, a growing number of tourists take local buses on theirown, and freely shuttle from theater to vegetable market, sharing thedestination city, street block, and rural area with local residents.Basedon leading indicators such as macroeconomics, market policies and willingnessto travel, we expect the outbound tourism market for Chinese citizens in 2024to be close to the 2019 level, and we are optimistic about the upcoming 2025.AsPresident Xi Jinping stressed, “In order to attain wisdom, it is not enoughmerely to read books, you must be well-travelled as well.” This is thelong-chased fine tradition of Chinese nation. Travelling abroad is highlysought after in particular. Chinese-style modernization is a process wherebymaterial and spiritual civilization develops in parallel. Chinese people haveradically addressed prominent issues to ensure rural poor people do not have toworry about food and clothing and have access to compulsory education, basicmedical services and safe housing. After completing the building of amoderately prosperous society in all aspects, more and more people turn topursue high-quality life including travel. This fundamentally accounts for ouroptimism and confidence about the growth of Chinese outbound tourism market. Wefind it more and more convenient to travel around the world holding a Chinesepassport freely, and every year thousands of people say, “Let’s go to Bangkokthis weekend,” “Let’s go to Phuket on our next vacation,” which is as naturalas saying, “Let’s take a two-day break in the suburbs this weekend.”Moreand more overseas destinations have systematically researched and gainedprecise insights into Chinese tourists’ travel behaviors and consumptiontrends, and travel agencies deliver well-targeted products such as familytours, parent-child tours, study tours, vacation tours, etc., to major touristmarkets, and even accompany tourists to savor local specialties, seasonalseafood, or to experience in-depth the local music, fine arts, crafts, andfolklore. These are what we are happy to see, and we hope that more Chinesetourists will share their exciting moments in overseas destinations, and thatthey can improve their overall quality and enhance their confidence in ourChinese culture during civilized dialogues and cultural exchanges. The governmentwill no longer seek to maintain a tourism trade surplus with any country at anytime, nor will it easily impose trade and non-trade barriers on outboundtourism.Hundredsof millions of Chinese citizens are traveling overseas, so safety and qualityare what we are concerned about most. All the public security, cultural andtourism departments concerned need to step up cooperation to safeguard tourists’personal and property security and their freedom during their stay in thedestination. For example, they can draw on past experience to promote the jointpatrol mechanism exercised by Chinese and foreign tourism policemen, and allowtourists to enter any space not prohibited by law freely and with peace ofmind. Above security is quality. We hope that destination cities, especiallytourist reception places such as hotels, restaurants and museums, will havemore Chinese signs, Chinese foods and beverages and Chinese services.Commercial organizations have always been the most stable and reliable promoterfor tourism development. We hope to see closer cooperation between Chinese andforeign travel service providers, as well as between travel service providersand resource suppliers, in order to provide high-quality services for Chineseoutbound travelers.I.Outbound travel as a lifestyle and security concernsInthe past two years, as China entered a new normal in economic and socialdevelopment, Chinese people regained their curiosity about the world, and theoutbound tourism market was fueled to recover. In the first three quarters of2024, there were near 95 million Chinese tourists travelling abroad, up by 52%to 82% as in 2019. China saw 2.677 million outbound trips during the 7-dayNational Day holiday this year. Tourists from Hong Kong and Macao stillunderlie Chinese tourism market, and Chinese tourists mainly choose SoutheastAsia and East Asia for short-distance travels. The BRI countries, especially WestAsian and North African regions witnessed a notable increase in the number oftourists from China. Shocked by regional conflicts, long-distance destinationslike Europe and US suffered slowdown in recovering their airline supply chainsand tourism markets. In light of the number of international flights, thenumber of flights to East Asia and Southeast Asia constituted 76% of the totalnumber of flights outbound from China, and that of flights to BRI countriesaccounted for 60%. Relatively speaking, the capacity of airline to Europe andUS failed to recover as expected.Interms of outbound tourist flow and traffic, personalized needs and self-guidedtravels became the growth driver for niche destination countries and cities.Chinese tourists would travel to Europe, North America, South America andAfrica 30 years ago; or to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macao,or the five countries in Central Asia 20 years ago; or to Thailand, France andNew Zealand 10 years ago. How about now? They may say they would like to go toa certain city, island or resort. More and more unknown destination countriesand regions are being highly sought after by tourists. More and morenon-traditional resources account for outbound travels. People may travel to acountry, city or rural area for a sports event, a concert, a feature restaurantor seasonal foods. Looking at consumer behaviors, Chinese tourists used to “go,go, go”, showing strong appetite for the 7-day travel route to ten countries.Later we turned to “buy, buy, buy”. Chinese tourists are hence known as a “walkingwallet”.Howabout now? Chinese tourists would not like to travel abroad as they did in thepast. We are more willing to pay for a good life, stay in a high-graderestaurant or taste delicious foods. We might visit a museum or an art gallery,or watch a high-level artist show, in hope to find some pretty, exquisite, andwarm life scenes and deeply appreciate them. Tourism Malaysia, for example, hasconsistently promoted a wide range of fishing programs like near-sea fishing,deep-sea fishing, shallow-water fishing and deep-water fishing for over 100 million fishing fans from China since 2008. AI and other modern technologies haveradically changed the way we communicate and socialize, and language andpayment do no longer prevent us from travelling abroad. By use of large-modeland life applications, a growing number of tourists take local buses on theirown, and freely shuttle from theater to vegetable market, sharing thedestination city, street block, and rural area with local residents.Basedon leading indicators such as macroeconomics, market policies and willingnessto travel, we expect the outbound tourism market for Chinese citizens in 2024to be close to the 2019 level, and we are optimistic about the upcoming 2025.AsPresident Xi Jinping stressed, “In order to attain wisdom, it is not enoughmerely to read books, you must be well-travelled as well.” This is thelong-chased fine tradition of Chinese nation. Travelling abroad is highlysought after in particular. Chinese-style modernization is a process wherebymaterial and spiritual civilization develops in parallel. Chinese people haveradically addressed prominent issues to ensure rural poor people do not have toworry about food and clothing and have access to compulsory education, basicmedical services and safe housing. After completing the building of amoderately prosperous society in all aspects, more and more people turn topursue high-quality life including travel. This fundamentally accounts for ouroptimism and confidence about the growth of Chinese outbound tourism market. Wefind it more and more convenient to travel around the world holding a Chinesepassport freely, and every year thousands of people say, “Let’s go to Bangkokthis weekend,” “Let’s go to Phuket on our next vacation,” which is as naturalas saying, “Let’s take a two-day break in the suburbs this weekend.”Moreand more overseas destinations have systematically researched and gainedprecise insights into Chinese tourists’ travel behaviors and consumptiontrends, and travel agencies deliver well-targeted products such as familytours, parent-child tours, study tours, vacation tours, etc., to major touristmarkets, and even accompany tourists to savor local specialties, seasonalseafood, or to experience in-depth the local music, fine arts, crafts, andfolklore. These are what we are happy to see, and we hope that more Chinesetourists will share their exciting moments in overseas destinations, and thatthey can improve their overall quality and enhance their confidence in ourChinese culture during civilized dialogues and cultural exchanges. The governmentwill no longer seek to maintain a tourism trade surplus with any country at anytime, nor will it easily impose trade and non-trade barriers on outboundtourism.Hundredsof millions of Chinese citizens are traveling overseas, so safety and qualityare what we are concerned about most. All the public security, cultural andtourism departments concerned need to step up cooperation to safeguard tourists’personal and property security and their freedom during their stay in thedestination. For example, they can draw on past experience to promote the jointpatrol mechanism exercised by Chinese and foreign tourism policemen, and allowtourists to enter any space not prohibited by law freely and with peace ofmind. Above security is quality. We hope that destination cities, especiallytourist reception places such as hotels, restaurants and museums, will havemore Chinese signs, Chinese foods and beverages and Chinese services.Commercial organizations have always been the most stable and reliable promoterfor tourism development. We hope to see closer cooperation between Chinese andforeign travel service providers, as well as between travel service providersand resource suppliers, in order to provide high-quality services for Chineseoutbound travelers.

II. Over-expected growth inChinese inbound tourism and policy innovationInbound tourism remainsas the priority of our tourism-related tasks, and we always keep it in mind wheninnovating policies. Since the second half of last year, the central governmenthas rolled out a raft of supporting policies concerning visa, migration, portand consumer payment, and national and local governments have stepped upefforts in promoting people-to-people exchanges and tourism to Hong Kong, Macaoand Taiwan. As of mid-Octoberthis year,China waived visa requirements for ordinary passport holders from 24 countriesthat did the same way, and unilaterally gave visa-free access for 20 countries,and 72/144-hour visa-free transit for 54 countries. Already, citizens of 40countries can directly transit without a visa, and citizens of 32 countries cantransit without visas for up to 72/144 hours in China. Payment facilitationmeasures, such as “bank cards for large value payment, QR codes for small valuepayment, and no refusal to accept cash”, have effectively enhanced theconsumption experience of overseas tourists. The Ministry of Culture and Tourismhas actively promoted the new tourism image of “Hello China” under theframework of cultural and tourism years such as the China-France Year ofCulture and Tourism andmultilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai CooperationOrganization (SCO). This effectively stimulates the enthusiasm of overseastravel agencies. Inbound tourism is entering the fast track of recovery and a newstage of prosperity.The market ofinbound tourists from Hong Kong and Macao is stabilizing, and that of foreigntourists has achieved over-expected growth and steadily entered a new stage ofrapid recovery. In the first six months of 2024, China received almost 14.635million inbound tourists, and after deducting the number of people who came toChina for other purposes than travel, such as working and studying abroad, and thosewho are crew members, there were about 11.948 million foreign tourists. Thissuggests that the tourism market has recovered about 70% ofthe level of the same period in 2019. Looking at the quarterly data, we seedramatic growth both on a YoY and MoM/QoQ basis. In the second half of theyear, the inbound tourist market is expected to recover to the level of thesame period in 2019 and step into a new cycle of prosperity.As Chinacontinues to advance opening up, more and more public cultural and leisure placeshave become a new space for a better life shared by tourists and localresidents, catering to the diversified, personalized and quality needs ofinbound tourists to China. As visa-free, payment and other facilitationpolicies were rolled out for inbound tourists, social media disseminate Chinaand tourism information, and tourists from around the world pursue personalizedexperience, China has seen more and more individual inbound tourists. Most ofthem tend to go to the places with less flow of population and requiring lowercosts other than hot spots. Most tourists from Thailand would choose non-Tier 1cities, and Yunnan, Sichuan and Chongqing are most frequented. Xishuangbanna,more culturally similar to Thailand, becomes a highly-chased destination. Astravelling in China becomes more convenient, inbound tourists will go in-depthinto the living space of the native at a wider range. They will experience moreabout the life there. Local residents’ lifestyle has become what inboundtourists want to experience most. With the ever-growing number of inboundtourists and tourism spending, satisfaction of foreign tourist has also been steadilyimproved, and the arrivals reached 81.7 and 82.9 respectively in the firstand second quarters of 2024, both above the historical average level, andshowing an unfailing upward trend. Building up a tourism power requirestop-level design, regional exploration, and the entire tourism sector to worktogether in the same direction.Consideringthe leading indicators related to global economy, visa, national tourism imagebuilding and market promotion, we are consistently optimistic about thedevelopment of inbound tourist market in 2025 and beyond.With inbound tourism furtherbeing facilitated in aspects of visas, immigration, customs and ports,accommodation, sightseeing and payment will also be more convenient in China.In March, 2024, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Optimizing PaymentServices to Facilitate Payments to increase the number of outlets providingforeign currency exchange services and overseas bank card swiping devices, soas to facilitate payments for inbound tourists. In July, 2024, seven departmentsincluding the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Notice on Several Measures to Serve High-Level Opening-up andFacilitate Accommodation for Overseas Personnel, simplifying access tohotel accommodations for overseas tourists by removing qualification and other barriersand enhancing services. China will also simplify booking and purchase of scenicspot tickets and bus (ship) tickets, and provide multilingual services, inorder to better facilitate travels in China.II. Over-expected growth inChinese inbound tourism and policy innovationInbound tourism remainsas the priority of our tourism-related tasks, and we always keep it in mind wheninnovating policies. Since the second half of last year, the central governmenthas rolled out a raft of supporting policies concerning visa, migration, portand consumer payment, and national and local governments have stepped upefforts in promoting people-to-people exchanges and tourism to Hong Kong, Macaoand Taiwan. As of mid-Octoberthis year,China waived visa requirements for ordinary passport holders from 24 countriesthat did the same way, and unilaterally gave visa-free access for 20 countries,and 72/144-hour visa-free transit for 54 countries. Already, citizens of 40countries can directly transit without a visa, and citizens of 32 countries cantransit without visas for up to 72/144 hours in China. Payment facilitationmeasures, such as “bank cards for large value payment, QR codes for small valuepayment, and no refusal to accept cash”, have effectively enhanced theconsumption experience of overseas tourists. The Ministry of Culture and Tourismhas actively promoted the new tourism image of “Hello China” under theframework of cultural and tourism years such as the China-France Year ofCulture and Tourism andmultilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the Shanghai CooperationOrganization (SCO). This effectively stimulates the enthusiasm of overseastravel agencies. Inbound tourism is entering the fast track of recovery and a newstage of prosperity.The market ofinbound tourists from Hong Kong and Macao is stabilizing, and that of foreigntourists has achieved over-expected growth and steadily entered a new stage ofrapid recovery. In the first six months of 2024, China received almost 14.635million inbound tourists, and after deducting the number of people who came toChina for other purposes than travel, such as working and studying abroad, and thosewho are crew members, there were about 11.948 million foreign tourists. Thissuggests that the tourism market has recovered about 70% ofthe level of the same period in 2019. Looking at the quarterly data, we seedramatic growth both on a YoY and MoM/QoQ basis. In the second half of theyear, the inbound tourist market is expected to recover to the level of thesame period in 2019 and step into a new cycle of prosperity.As Chinacontinues to advance opening up, more and more public cultural and leisure placeshave become a new space for a better life shared by tourists and localresidents, catering to the diversified, personalized and quality needs ofinbound tourists to China. As visa-free, payment and other facilitationpolicies were rolled out for inbound tourists, social media disseminate Chinaand tourism information, and tourists from around the world pursue personalizedexperience, China has seen more and more individual inbound tourists. Most ofthem tend to go to the places with less flow of population and requiring lowercosts other than hot spots. Most tourists from Thailand would choose non-Tier 1cities, and Yunnan, Sichuan and Chongqing are most frequented. Xishuangbanna,more culturally similar to Thailand, becomes a highly-chased destination. Astravelling in China becomes more convenient, inbound tourists will go in-depthinto the living space of the native at a wider range. They will experience moreabout the life there. Local residents’ lifestyle has become what inboundtourists want to experience most. With the ever-growing number of inboundtourists and tourism spending, satisfaction of foreign tourist has also been steadilyimproved, and the arrivals reached 81.7 and 82.9 respectively in the firstand second quarters of 2024, both above the historical average level, andshowing an unfailing upward trend. Building up a tourism power requirestop-level design, regional exploration, and the entire tourism sector to worktogether in the same direction.Consideringthe leading indicators related to global economy, visa, national tourism imagebuilding and market promotion, we are consistently optimistic about thedevelopment of inbound tourist market in 2025 and beyond.With inbound tourism furtherbeing facilitated in aspects of visas, immigration, customs and ports,accommodation, sightseeing and payment will also be more convenient in China.In March, 2024, the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Optimizing PaymentServices to Facilitate Payments to increase the number of outlets providingforeign currency exchange services and overseas bank card swiping devices, soas to facilitate payments for inbound tourists. In July, 2024, seven departmentsincluding the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Notice on Several Measures to Serve High-Level Opening-up andFacilitate Accommodation for Overseas Personnel, simplifying access tohotel accommodations for overseas tourists by removing qualification and other barriersand enhancing services. China will also simplify booking and purchase of scenicspot tickets and bus (ship) tickets, and provide multilingual services, inorder to better facilitate travels in China.

III. “Nihao! China” vs. “Wonderful Thailand”Chinaand Thailand are important tourist destinations and sources for each other, andthe fastest to recover tourism. As early as the 1990s, Thailand, along withMalaysia and Singapore, became synonymous with overseas travel for Chinesecitizens. From 2008 to 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand wassteadily on the rise, with an average annual growth rate of 29.1%. In 2019,10,364,500 trips were made by Chinese citizens as first stops to travel toThailand. In 2019, there were 870,500 Thai tourists to China, ranking among top10 BRI source countries. Thanks to favorable factors such as mutual visaexemption and marketing promotion, China and Thailand are also the fastest-recoveringsource markets for each other. The number of flights from Beijing to Bangkokhas returned to the pre-epidemic level, with an average of 8-9 flights perweek, and almost every provincial capital city has flights to Thailand. Duringthe National Day holiday, there were more than 960 flights from China to Thailand,increasing by more than 110 flights from the week earlier. According to datafrom the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, from January to Septemberthis year, Thailand received 5.25 million Chinese tourists, making it thelargest source of tourists.Chinaand Thailand have been vigorously fostering the high-quality development of thetourism sector, and have been given high scores in terms of touristsatisfaction. In 2023, Chinese tourists to Thailand scored 81.87 for their satisfaction,ranking No. 6 among outbound tourism destination countries and regions. Chinesetourists gave high scores to Thailand’s destination image, attitudes of localresidents, value for money, leisure and entertainment, and shopping comments. In2023, Thai tourists to China scored 83.48 for their satisfaction, much greaterthan the score of overall satisfaction given by inbound tourists. Except for feelingembarrassed when communicating in English, they gave high scores to hotellocation, room cleanness and comfort, and professionalism of company staff. What’smore, Thai tourists reported that Chinese people are not only good at makingdelicious Chinese food, but also serves very authentic Thai food. We note thatChinese tourists to Thailand are predominantly young people aged between 22 and45. 80% of them choose to travel on their own, buy hotel vacation packages orjoin small private guided group tours. The survey data reveal that these mostenergetic tourists hold high expectation for and are also satisfied with thequality of travel in Thailand.The tourism exchanges between China and Thailandresult from political mutual trust, strong bond among people, and economic andtrade ties, and also as tourism departments and the sector at large formsynergy with each other. In April 2012, China and Thailandestablished a comprehensive strategic partnership. In 2022, President XiJinping arrived in Bangkok, Thailand to attend the 29th APECEconomic Leaders’ Meeting and visit Thailand. In 2024, China and Thailandimplemented a mutual visa exemption policy. Not long ago, Princess Sirindhorn,near the age of 70, ended a 7-day 51st visit to China. She has writtena new chapter of the special friendship between the two countries as close asone family all the way from Beijing to Sichuan. In the first half of this year,up to 477,100 Thai tourists visited China, constitutingabout 4% of the total overseas tourists. Nonetheless, prior to COVID-19pandemic in 2019, this figure was less than 3%. Data from major touristdestinations such as Beijing and Hainan show that Thailand’s inbound tourismmarket has hit a record high. From January to August this year, Beijingreceived more than 60,000 inbound tourists from Thailand, 1.7 times of the 2019figure. Hainan received about 13,000 inbound tourists from Thailand, 1.3 timesas many as in 2019. Tourism exchanges between China and Thailand are usheringin new opportunities for prosperity, and are set to recover and exceed the recordhigh level as soon as possible.Wehope to see more Chinese tourists going to Thailand for sightseeing,entertainment and holiday break, and that the Thailand’s government willprovide Chinese tourists with higher security and quality. We expect more Thaitourists will pay frequent visits to China just like Princess Sirindhorn, toexperience our country which carries forward our culture, builds a brightfuture, seeks happiness for people, rejuvenates the nation, and offers anenjoyable experience for both hosts and guests with an open and inclusive mind.

Author | Dai Bin Editor | Liu Xin Source | China Tourism Academy (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source for reprinting