Data from Chinese online travel agencies indicate a significant rise in outbound travel this summer, fueled by visa facilitation policies.
According to Trip.com, searches for flights and hotels have increased by about 20% year-on-year. From June 10-14, the weekly query volume for summer travel rose 15% compared to 2019 levels.
After China and Malaysia announced plans to extend visa exemptions, searches for Kuala Lumpur on Qunar.com surged 49% week-on-week. China will extend visa exemptions until the end of 2025, and Malaysia until the end of 2026.
Tongcheng Travel reported that searches related to Australia more than doubled after China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday that both countries will issue multiple-entry visas for business, tourism, and family visits. These visas will be valid for up to five years with stays of no more than 90 days per visit.
Xu Xiaolei, a marketing manager at CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times on Sunday that Chinese tourists’ growing demand, coupled with the recovery of domestic consumption, has laid a solid foundation for an outbound travel boom. Visa-free policies are a major support for this increase. Xu noted that his company’s outbound travel is up more than 50% year-on-year, with the nation’s tourism industry recovering to or surpassing pre-pandemic levels.
The China Tourism Academy reported that China’s outbound travel in 2023 exceeded 87 million trips, with projections for this year reaching 130 million trips.
Jia Jianqiang, CEO of Beijing-based online agency 6renyou, said on Sunday that his company’s outbound travel business has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, thanks to the resumption of international flights and visa exemption policies. He expects this summer’s travel volume to be up 30% year-on-year.
Chinese airlines are also rapidly resuming overseas flights. Air China plans to operate an average of 201 international and regional flights per day, with the average daily frequency of routes returning to 84% of 2019 levels, and European routes exceeding 2019 levels. China Eastern Airlines plans to operate over 1,240 international and regional flights per week, returning to 90.8% of the same period in 2019.
Fly Master data show that the international civil aviation market is expected to recover to about 80% of 2019 levels this summer, with Southeast Asia and East Asia remaining popular destinations for Chinese visitors.
Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday that beyond easing visa acquisition, these policies play crucial roles in attracting domestic tourists to overseas destinations and encouraging them to take action.