At long last, China on Thursday lifted a Covid-era ban on outbound
group tours to more than 70 destinations, including the United States,
Japan, South Korea and Australia.
The announcement was made by China’s Culture and Tourism Ministry,
which is effectively immediately, will enable travel agencies across the
country and online travel companies to resume operating outbound group
tours to more than 70 countries.
China gave the green light to most European Union countries,
including Germany, Finland and Sweden; the United Kingdom as well as
India and Pakistan. Middle East nations like Qatar, Oman, Lebanon and
Israel were on the list. However, Canada, which has had tense diplomatic
relations with China of late, was not on the list.
These represent the latest batch of countries where restrictions were lifted.
China’s first approved batch in January comprised 20 countries,
including Thailand and Singapore; followed by an expansion to 40
countries for the second batch in March, which saw restrictions lifted
for France, Portugal and Nepal.
The news is undeniably received with great enthusiasm around the
world, with travel industry players upbeat about the latest development.
Cam Wallace, CEO Qantas International, commented: “The easing of
travel restrictions for Chinese group tours visiting Australia is great
news for Australian tourism and we welcome the announcement as we gear
up to recommence Qantas flights between Shanghai and Sydney in October.
“Pre-Covid, Australia was a top destination for Chinese visitors and
we look forward to helping bring more travellers from China to Australia
on our flights again soon,” he added.
Airline, travel and hospitality stocks have also surged with China’s latest announcement.
Prior to the pandemic, China was among the top visitor source market
for many countries as Chinese travellers took 155 million trips abroad,
clocking up a combined US$225 billion in 2019 with group tour making up a
significant portion of that spending.