The changing face of China's foreign tourists

BEIJING - Weaving through a horde of Chinese tourists clutching delicate blown-sugar figurines, tea and selfie sticks, Mr Joao Esteves, a Portuguese, stands out as a rare foreigner in one of Beijing's oldest alleyways.

- Ang Qing

"I was just in Azerbaijan last week and seeing where I could go from there, and there was a good flight that was quite affordable. In Europe, we hear a lot about China, so I wanted to see the country for myself," the 25-year-old software engineer said in Nanluoguxiang, Dongcheng district, on Nov 8.

What made China even more appealing to the solo traveler was that he did not need a visa for the trip. The Chinese government has been rolling out visa exemptions in earnest to dozens of countries over the past year. Portugal was granted the waiver in October.

Despite efforts to revitalize the country's inbound tourism sector, international travelers are still not returning to China fast enough. It has been more than 18 months since the country reopened its borders, but international tourist numbers have not reached pre-pandemic levels.

Particularly noticeable is the slower return of American tourists, once a key market for the East Asian titan.

Analysts and tourism businesses told The Sunday Times that cancellations by international airlines of flights and routes to China in recent months, coupled with geopolitical tensions, have dampened the sector's recovery from the pandemic.

China recorded an estimated 95 million inbound tourist arrivals in the first nine months of 2024, according to the government. This is around 93.4 per cent of the number for the same period in 2019.

The Chinese government has pulled out all the stops to bolster inbound tourism by addressing pain points in recent months.

In March and April, the Chinese authorities made payments easier for foreigners by improving access to mobile payment platforms such as WeChat and Alipay. Major tourist attractions and hotels with three-star ratings or higher were instructed to accept overseas bank cards. In May, hotel operators were barred from turning away foreigners.