Tourism agents travelled to Guizhou and Guangxi, with China’s Airlines support to boost inbound tourism

With the Chinese government launching a series of policies to facilitate inbound tourism such as 240-hour visa-free transit, regional visa-free entry, and ‘buy-and-refund’ tax rebates, the popularity of travelling in China and shopping in China rose when European people choose their travel destinations. ‘China Travel’ has opened the door for many foreign tourists to understand China. The China Tourism Research Institute predicts that the inbound tourism market will surpass the pre-pandemic level in 2025, and that China is welcoming global tourists with a more open attitude.

On 13th May, 24 tourists from the UK and Ireland departed from London Heathrow Airport on Air China flights, while the Norwegian and Finnish delegations departed from Oslo and Helsinki on Hainan Airlines and Juneyao Airlines flights respectively, travelling together to Guizhou as their first stop to enjoy the beautiful scenery and ethnic minority customs of the region.

Zhang Li, Director of the China National Tourist Office London (CNTO London), said at the departure ceremony at London’s Heathrow Airport, this is the largest-scaled exploratory tour organised by CNTO London over the years that involves the most countries and tourism agents. This tour covers the majority of organisers, agents & societies of inbound tourism to China, in 4 countries mentioned above.

According to Trip.com’s data, although the UK has not yet been included in the list of unilateral visa-free countries of China, the number of tourists coming to China has maintained a good trend of growth, and ranked 8th among China’s inbound tourism origin countries in 2024, and the top among European countries, which fully demonstrates British tourists’ recognition on China’s tourism resources and cultural charms. It is hoped that the travel industry experts from the 4 European countries who participated in the tour will publicise what they saw and heard in Guizhou and Guangxi to more European colleagues and people, so that travelling to China will become a fashion among the European people.

According to Xia Baohui, General Manager of Air China’s London Branch, China’s airlines take serving national strategies and fulfilling social responsibilities as the core mission of corporate development, and will do their utmost to devote themselves to the rapid recovery and development of China’s inbound tours, and to build ‘air bridges’ to China for travellers from all over the world. Taking Air China and Shenzhen Airlines as an example, weekly direct flights between China and the UK have reached 36 flights per week in the summer and autumn flight season, and will increase to 39 flights in the upcoming summer, exceeding the pre-pandemic level and accounting for 37% of the total capacity of direct flights between China and the UK. These figures also show the strong demand for mutual exchanges between the Chinese and British populations. In the future, Air China, Shenzhen Airlines and other Chinese airlines will continue to support and facilitate cultural and tourism exchanges between China and the UK.

Jodie Marie Dewberry, known as a ‘responsible traveller’ and a well-known travel blogger who has travelled to six continents, is visiting China for the first time. With her itinerary in hand, Jodie says she’s already blown away by the vastness of China and she can’t wait to see all the amazing natural landscapes.

As a vegetarian, Jodie focuses on sustainable tourism and cultural experiences, ‘Before travelling, I was worried that I would miss out on a lot of food because of my vegetarian diet, I was very interested in Guizhou’s ’silk dolls‘ and ’roasted yams’ after some research! You can choose your own toppings. With plenty of vegetables, and magical skills to cook them, I really can’t wait.”

Leandro, a freelance photographer from Argentina, is also looking forward to his first trip to China, and is well prepared, ‘half for the food, half for the photography’. He says he loves spicy food, and that the sour soup hot pots of Guizhou ‘beckons’ to him. The Miao villages, terraced rice paddies, and ethnic minority villages are all exciting subjects for photography.

Mr Tanvir Akhtar, Account Manager of Par Excellence, a travel agency in the UK, participated in a tour to Xinjiang, China last year and came back to the country full of praise for Xinjiang’s socio-economic development and prosperity of local people. He was delighted to have the opportunity to visit Guizhou and Guangxi in Southwest China to experience more unique culture of China’s ethnic minorities and to learn more about the modernisation and development achievements of the region in areas such as poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation.

Ms Alexandra Outhwaite, a travel journalist, was thrilled to be visiting China for the first time. As a travel journalist, I believe that the real China is not in the guidebooks, and I am looking forward to discovering this ‘ancient yet young’ oriental country through my own eyes, and then telling the story of China to a wider European audience,” she said.

Nico Armstrong, a ‘China expert’, and her husband moved to China in 2017, started out as English teachers and gradually shared their life and travels in China on social media, shot and posted more than 300 videos. Originally just planning to live in China for a year, the couple ended up staying for five years – from Hangzhou to Chengdu, from Zhangjiajie to Xi’an, from Harbin to Xiamen. Chongqing, Guilin, Qingdao, Changchun, Lijiang, Hohhot… ‘We have experienced snow, deserts, islands and terraces, and have grown to love the colourfulness and vastness of this country.’

“As foreigners, we are pleasantly surprised to find that China’s customs policy has become more and more friendly over the past two years, and Alipay and WeChat Pay have begun to support international card binding, and in many places you can also pay directly with Visa or Mastercard. Both the entry procedures and daily shopping are much simpler for foreign tourists; we recommend all our friends and families of us to travel to China.”

Maybe their trips are just an ordinary group among millions of travellers, but every departure is an opportunity to connect each other with the world. In the coming trip, the group will dive into Guizhou and Guangxi to experience the rich cultural and tourism resources there, including the Huangguoshu Scenic Spot, Libo Xiaoqikong Scenic Spot, Bama and other well-known attractions. The ‘5.19 China Tourism Day’ celebration to be held in Libo, Guizhou, will also bring them a different kind of China tourism experience.

The study tour is expected to bring more high-quality Chinese tourism products to European tourists, and further promote Sino-European tourism exchanges and cooperation.