Beijing on Thursday relaxed a COVID-era restriction on outbound group tours to dozens of countries including the United States and Japan, a move that could see thousands of Chinese visitors return to places throughout the world.
China sealed itself off from the world in 2020 as part of a tight zero-COVID strategy, including visa restrictions and extended quarantines to curb the entry of viral cases into the country.
Thursday’s declaration is the latest stride towards reopening, after the Chinese government relaxed its containment restrictions abruptly in December.
“From now on, travel agencies across the country and online travel companies will resume operating outbound group tours” to more than 70 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a statement.
Earlier this year, as part of a trial programme, Chinese tour groups were granted permission to visit a limited number of countries. These countries, which are popular tourist destinations, include Thailand, Italy, and France.
According to the tourism ministry’s statement on Thursday, outbound tourism has exhibited consistent growth since the initiation of the trial period, thereby contributing positively to the facilitation of tourism exchanges and collaboration.
According to McKinsey, in 2019, mainland Chinese residents accounted for the largest outbound tourism market globally, with a total of 155 million trips taken abroad.
