December 31st (AMSP/CGTN) – – Tourism has been making steady recovery this year, helped by fast-spreading internet fame and welcoming visa policies.
As if millenniums of history itself isn’t enough, China’s treasured relics now have another thing going for them.
These religious tableaux are all carved directly into the cliff sides. The earliest of the rock carvings dates back to the 7th century. It’s one of many locations that inspired the stunning world in the video game that took our world by storm this summer.
Black Myth Wukong, etched Chinese history and culture like in Dazu in mountainous Chongqing, indelibly on the tourist map. And Dazu has been riding on the popularity of its cameo appearance.
“We took the scenes from Black Myth Wukong and brought them to life, so that tourists can come for the Wukong experience. And that has boosted our visitor numbers.
At Baoding mountain alone, we’ve had 1.3 million visitors so far. That number, and our revenues are up 116% from the same period last year. During the National Day holidays, we saw a record high of 23,000 visitors per day,” said Liu Xingming, Dazu Culture and Tourism Corporation Ltd.
All over the country, places are raring to become the next travel sensation.
China’s tourism industry is still on the road to recovery after three years of the crippling pandemic. Experts predict 2024 will see domestic travelers closing in on 2019 numbers…
The industry is optimistic that 2025 will mark its full rebound. And the country is helping to play catch up.
There’s so much on offer here. And China is encouraging visitors to come by cutting visa requirements. This year, more countries have been added to the visa exemption list. Whilst more places in China are covered under the visa-free transit for short stays of up to six days.
Immigration authorities say more than half of foreign arrivals this year entered on these visa policies. Chongqing alone logged 3 times more foreign arrivals than last year.
“For business and we come more and more. It’s much easier then because we can do this constantly and without the long term planning,” Travelers from Germany said.
“Free Chinese visa would really help young people and incentivise travel here. And the more people that come here the more you get to know about it. So yeah that’s another consequence of free visa,” said travelers from Italy, France.
Vloggers from around the world are sharing their travel tips, dos and don’ts, and unusual experiences: dancing with pensioners in public squares, being serviced by robots and drones, and marvelling at engineering feats.
China is coveting more foreign tourist revenues. Even in 2019, their spending made up only 0.5 percent of GDP. In Thailand for comparison…it’s more than 10 percent.
Industry representatives say beyond the obvious economic benefits, the visa exemptions are a message to the world that China is committed to opening up. And by hosting more visitors, also a way to dispel any misunderstanding and bias, compounded by pandemic barriers.
“Travelling China comes with its own challenges and may not make everyone’s bucket list, but for sure, these welcoming policies are generating curiosity. Just look at the global social media chatter around #chinatravel. Enormous video content… the bulk of which posted in the past year or so. // So… the real picture of China? You’ll have to come and see for yourself,” CGTN’s Jiao Yang concluded.
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CGTN