The top ten sources of inbound travelers in the first ten months of 2023 to mainland China were South Korea, the USA, Japan, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and Germany, data published by Trip.com Group shows.
The first ten months of 2023 saw four-digit growth in visitor numbers when compared with the same period in 2022, or more than 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels.
The travel group pointed out that following the opening of mainland China’s borders earlier this year, there has been a consistent increase in the number of China-related bookings made via Trip.com Group’s platforms.
In October 2023, for example, there was a 98 per cent year-on-year surge in inbound flight bookings, while September and August saw an increase of 58 per cent and 89 per cent, respectively.
The top ten most popular cities for inbound travelers in mainland China, included Shenzhen and Shanghai toppling the list, alongside Guangzhou, Beijing, Zhuhai, Hangzhou, Foshan, Xiamen, Zhongshan, and Chengdu.
Interestingly, seven out of ten hotel bookings made by inbound tourists were for Shenzhen, while two Shanghai hotels rank second and third in the most booked hotel list.
The CEO of Trip.com, Jane Sun, has recently called for increased efforts to improve the contribution of inbound tourism to the country’s GDP and make it more accessible for overseas visitors, including better visa, language, and e-payment services.
The Chinese government has simplified the visa application process for tourists from several countries and has also, since November and, removed the requirement for inbound arrivals to fill in the Entry Health Declaration Card.
According to data collected by Trip.com, global search results for inbound travel to China have significantly improved in the third quarter, a 40 per cent rise from the previous three-month period.
Trip.com has recently launched the “China Travel Guide”, a comprehensive guide targeting overseas travellers, with information on hotel reservations, travel advice, transport options, payment methods, and insights into popular destinations.
Since its launch in September, it has already served nearly 100,000 overseas visitors.
On November 17, the Trip.com Group also signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding with the China International Culture Association to advance with “Nihao! China”, a campaign to promote inbound tourism, with the company pledging to invest in platform technology, marketing and promotion, and product integration to accelerate the development of inbound tourism in the country.
‘China E-payment service providers have also, in recent months, implemented measures to simplify and enhance payment facilitation. Today, top e-payment providers allow international travellers to bind their credit cards to their e-payment systems used in China,’ the company noted.
‘Previously, access to the payment platforms would require travelers to have a local bank account or card’