Shanghai continues to attract tourists in order to become the "first stop for Chinese inbound tourism", and China has extended visa exemption for 12 countries including France.
According to reports, China has decided to extend its visa-free policy for 12 countries including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg until December 31, 2025. Persons holding ordinary passports from the above countries who come to China for business, sightseeing, visiting relatives and friends and transiting for no more than 15 days can enter China without a visa. People in the tourism industry believe that this move will continue to stimulate the recovery of the inbound tourism market.
Since the end of last year, the visa facilitation policy has had a significant driving effect on the recovery of the travel market between China and related countries, especially China-Singapore, China-Malaysia, China-Thailand, and China-France in Europe. , China-Italy, and China-Germany are the most popular.
Ctrip platform data shows that since the beginning of this year, the number of inbound travel orders from tourists from the above-mentioned 12 countries to mainland my country has increased by 341% year-on-year, with Malaysia, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands having the largest number of inbound tourists. Among them, Malaysia’s inbound travel orders increased by 485% year-on-year, making it the country with the highest growth rate; Germany’s inbound travel orders increased by 223%, and France increased by 273%. With the further release of outbound travel demand, mainland tourists' demand for outbound travel to 12 countries has surged this year. The number of travel orders has increased by 180% year-on-year, and Chinese tourists' travel orders to France have increased by 197% year-on-year.
"The inbound tourism market needs long-term promotion and policy support. A series of visa-free policies will have a very direct stimulating effect on inbound tourism." Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Spring and Autumn Tourism, told reporters that this time China has a visa-free policy for citizens of 12 countries including France. Extended to the end of 2025, it will definitely attract more European inbound tourists to visit China in the future, which will also put forward higher requirements for tourism operators. "We need to provide more detailed services and further improve reception capabilities."
Behind the strong recovery of inbound and outbound tourism is the gradual overcoming of many problems such as visas, payment, and transportation capacity, as well as the results of the multi-faceted efforts of the competent authorities and market entities. The extension of China’s visa-free policy for citizens of 12 countries including France has solved the problem of visa difficulties for many overseas tourists, making “just go” a reality. With the implementation of favorable policies and the active innovation of various market entities, the full-link experience of inbound tourism will continue to be optimized, providing guarantee for the continued growth of inbound tourism and injecting more certainty into the continued recovery of the inbound and outbound tourism and vacation market.
From March this year to the present, Shanghai has welcomed a large number of business arrivals, and international large-scale cruise ships have also brought tens of thousands of purely tourist arrivals to Shanghai, further boosting consumption in Shanghai’s hotels, attractions, restaurants, etc., during the May Day holiday Shanghai becomes the most popular city for inbound tourism during the holidays. Starting from mid-April, Ctrip Group has launched a free half-day inbound tour at Pudong Airport for eligible international transfer passengers. It has also introduced more foreign tourists to Shanghai, presenting a modern Shanghai and the real China more intuitively to foreign friends. After a half-day free tour of Shanghai, a foreign tourist who had not originally planned to enter China lamented on social media: "It feels great to have visited the old town of Shanghai and tasted the local food!"
With the resumption of international routes, the implementation of entry facilitation measures and the increase in the number of mutual visa-free countries, China's inbound and outbound tourism market has accelerated its recovery. Big data monitoring of passenger flow from the data center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism shows that the total number of inbound and outbound tourists during this year's May Day holiday reached 3.672 million, including 1.775 million inbound tourists and 1.897 million outbound tourists.
