Welcome Chinese

The China Tourism Academy says the recovery process of China's inbound and outbound tourism market is expected to gain further momentum in 2024. The academy predicts that the number of inbound and outbound tourist arrivals will surpass 264 million in 2024, while income generated by international tourists is projected to exceed $107 billion. With the recovery of the global tourism industry in 2023, countries have once again opened their doors to Chinese tourists. Staff members welcome Chinese tourists at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, Thailand, Sept. 25, 2023. Chinese tourists have shown a strong preference for Southeast Asian countries due to their convenient transportation, friendly language environment, abundant tourism resources, and relatively low travel costs. Several Southeast Asian countries recently implemented favorable visa policies. Malaysia announced a 30-day visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, while Thailand announced that Thailand and China will permanently exempt each other's citizens from visa requirements starting from March. These positive policy changes have received an enthusiastic response from Chinese tourists. Data from Alibaba's travel platform Fliggy shows that within one hour of the visa-free policy announcement, the number of searches for flights to Thailand more than doubled. The recovery of international flights has led to an increase…