China resumes outbound group tours to 60 countries

(ECNS) -- China resumed outbound group tours to another 40 countries and regions from Wednesday, bringing the total number of outbound group tour destinations to 60, according to a release by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

It is the second batch of destinations in China's pilot program for outbound group tours after the country resumed cross-border group tours to the first batch of 20 countries and regions on Feb. 6 after the COVID-19 control policies were relaxed.

According to the release, travel agencies and portals are allowed to sell and promote group tour products including hotels and air tickets to these 40 destinations.

Xu Xiaolei, Chief Brand Officer of China Travel Depot.com, said that the gradual reopening of the outbound tourism market is beneficial for the travel industry.

The click-through rate of the outbound tourism-related pages on Tongcheng Travel website increased by 77 percent, and the number of visa inquiries for relevant countries increased by over 4 times.

Data shows that among the second batch of outbound tourism destinations, Chinese tourists are more interested to Vietnam, Italy, Serbia, France, and Spain.

Cheng Chaogong, Chief Researcher at the Tongcheng Research Institute, analyzed that the announcement of the second batch of pilot destinations enable better connectivity of tourism routes in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the South Pacific region, thus attracting more tourists.

Additionally, with the increase in international flights, the prices of outbound flights from China have continued to decrease, and it is expected that the outbound tourism market will surge during the May Day holiday and China's summer vacation, he added.

The second batch of countries includes Nepal, Brunei, Vietnam, Mongolia, Iran, Jordan, Tanzania, Namibia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Serbia, Croatia, France, Greece, Spain, Iceland, Albania, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Panama, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Dominica, and the Bahamas.