China’s Tourism Market Embraces Growth

Great Wall of China

According to a report from the National Academy of Economic Strategy and Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China’s booming domestic tourism market saw more than 120 million Chinese people traveling overseas in 2015.

Statistics from the Japan Tourism Agency showed that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan in 2015 reached 4.99 million, increasing 107 percent from 2014, meaning that China has become the number one source of tourists traveling to Japan. Data from the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism shows that the number of Chinese tourists visiting South Korea in 2015 reached 6.11 million, accounting for a quarter of the total number of tourists there. Chinese tourists traveling to the U.S. increased by 16 percent in 2015.

In addition, the report offered an analysis of China’s inbound tourism. Compared to the global tourism market, China’s inbound tourism has been choppy in recent years, with the number of inbound tourists dropping by a few percentage points since 2012.

To help boost inbound arrivals, the Chinese government has been changing policies to provide more convenience. For one thing, the 72-hour visa-free stay policy for foreign visitors is continually expanding. The government also aims to improve policies for cruise ships. In 2015, seven cities in China (Xiamen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Harbin, Nanjing, Qingdao and Changsha) adopted the 72-hour visa-free stay policy for foreigners. Now there are 18 cities on that list. Southern parts of Guangdong province will even roll out a 144-hour visa-free transit policy for international visitors. Based on statistics from the China National Tourism Administration, inbound arrivals have been increasing over the last 11 months. As of November 2015, the number of inbound travelers to China had increased 4.4 percent over the previous year. Tourists from South Korea, Japan and the U.S. came in the highest numbers.