Inbound tourism recovers fast from pandemic(4)

A seafood market in Qionghai, Hainan province, attracts visitors from home and abroad in August. (YUAN CHEN/FOR CHINA DAILY)

Joint efforts

Trip.com Group has also joined hands with financial technology company Ant Group and several other travel agencies, including Our Tour. They plan to work together to enhance the entire inbound tourism experience by focusing on areas such as service portals, mobile payments with overseas bank cards, overseas promotion of domestic destinations, and the quality of group tour services.

An inbound tourism service platform will be set up on Trip.com Group's international website to assist travelers to China.

Our Tour advocates increased marketing and promotion efforts for Chinese destinations, optimized inbound tourism products and routes, and strengthened multilingual communication and development of tour guide teams.

Ant Group has proposed enhancing research and development of cross-border payments technology to support overseas visitors using electronic wallets, and linking foreign bank cards to digital payment systems.

Shi, the tour guide in Beijing, thinks that compared with before the pandemic emerged, international visitors are showing an increasing preference for customized itineraries that offer more freedom.

"Ancient Chinese architecture, history, culture and distinctive cuisine are highly attractive to these visitors," Shi said.

He added that in Beijing, popular tourist experiences include exploring the Forbidden City, walking the Great Wall, savoring zha jiang mian(dry-tossed noodles with hot bean sauce), and strolling the city's hutong, or alleyway, areas.

While Shi acknowledges that inbound tourism has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, he feels that many of those operating in the industry are now much busier.

"Confidence has also risen in the industry, as increased business from travel agencies is now coming our way," he said.

Shi thinks that next year, inbound tourism will likely recover to about 60-70 percent of the pre-pandemic level.

"We are fully prepared and eagerly looking forward to welcoming visitors from around the world," he added.