Tag Archives: China

Chinese Tourism Starting to Climb Back?

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Chinese tourism is starting to climb back, according to COTRI (China Outbound Tourism Research Institute).

COTRI said in a prepared statement that the speed of the recovery process is impressive with reports from many cities indicating that it takes only about a week to get a new passport and that travel restrictions are also falling by the wayside quickly.

The clash between South Korea and China over discriminatory treatment seems to be over. South Koreans can now get visas for China again and the South Korean government has ended special treatment for the Chinese, COTRI said.

European Union countries have reportedly also agreed to phase out COVID-19 restrictions on travellers from China and will also stop random testing of travellers from China by the middle of March.

Chinese companies have also started investing in outbound tourism infrastructure again with the Shanghai retailer Yuyuan Tourist Mart announcing plans to invest about US$120 million in a Japanese ski resort project on Hokkaido.

Airlines are bringing back a multitude of routes to and from China and ticket prices are in most cases back to pre-pandemic levels, according to COTRI.

Business, studies and family reunions are major reasons for the first outbound travellers, the research institute said, but the first leisure tourists have already been sighted not only in the neighbouring countries but also in Sydney, Paris and Milan.

It was less than two months ago that Chinese citizens could again apply for passports and just two weeks ago that Chinese tour operators were officially allowed to sell outbound trips for what is called “group travel” to 20 destinations, even though most customers are said just to buy air tickets and hotel reservations.

Contributing to the interest in travel, COTRI said, are all the marriages that have been put on hold during COVID, expecting to result in a wave of honeymoon trips.

The year 2022 ended with a total number of outbound trips below nine million, about 5 per cent of the 2019 level. Five million of these trips went no further than Macau. Hong Kong welcomed 375,000 mainlanders, five times the number of 2021, but still less than 1 per cent of the 2019 arrivals.

Assuming no further disruptions or an attack on Taiwan, COTRI said, Chinese travellers could make the steep climb back to the top of all international tourism source markets during the current year.

COTRI is a research organization for the China outbound tourism market-based in Hamburg, Germany.

NCL REINTRODUCES COVID-19 TESTS FOR GUESTS EMBARKING IN CHINA

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Norwegian Star arriving in Liverpool photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

Norwegian Cruise Line has reintroduced Covid-19 testing for all guests who have visited mainland China 10 days before embarkation as cases in the country continue to rise.

The move comes as a result of growing concerns regarding the virus in China, as well as recently implemented travel restrictions by countries including the UK and the US.

Between 5-31 January, guests who have visited mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau within 10 days prior to embarkation will be required to submit proof of a negative medically supervised PCR test taken within 48 hours prior to the beginning of travel to the port.

This also applies to guests transiting through an airport in one of the countries within 10 days prior to embarkation.


Additionally, guests will be required to take a medically supervised PCR test at the port within eight hours of embarkation and will be required to test onboard the ship every 48 hours until 10 days have passed from their last time in China, Hong Kong, or Macau.


Passengers must also be fully vaccinated and boosted with a World Health Organization-approved vaccine prior to embarkation.

It comes after the EU recommended all passengers travelling from China to the EU should be required to provide evidence of a recent negative test for Covid-19.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson this week said the restrictions being imposed on travellers from China “lacked scientific basis”, adding the Chinese government would now consider reciprocal countermeasures.

Carnival to Sell Three More Ships, Two From Costa

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As part of its fourth quarter business update, Carnival Corporation confirmed it would sell off three more ships, including two from its Costa fleet.

Carnival did not say which ships it was offloading.

“The company expects to remove three additional smaller-less efficient ships from its fleet,” Carnival said in a statement issued on Wednesday morning. “Two of these three ships are from Costa Cruises’ fleet as part of the company’s strategy to right-size the brand in light of the continued closure of cruise operations in China, and Costa’s significant presence there prior to the pause in the company’s guest cruise operations. Once completed in spring 2024, the company’s fleet optimization strategy will have reduced Costa’s capacity so that it approximates the 2019 capacity Costa dedicated outside of Asia to its core markets in Continental Europe.”

With the sale of the ships, Carnival said it now expects total capacity growth of 3 per cent for 2023 compared to 2019, at the lower end of the previous guidance range of 3 to 5 per cent.

The prudent capacity growth rate includes the benefit that newly delivered ships will represent nearly a quarter of the company’s capacity.

With three more ships set to leave, Carnival has divested approximately 26 cruise ships since the start of the pandemic.