The first group tour of Chinese people since COVID-19 will begin today (6th). However, Korea, the United States, and Japan were excluded from countries that allowed group travel abroad.
The state-run Global Times, affiliated with the People’s Daily, the organization of the Communist Party of China, said on the 5th that travel agencies are rushing to prepare for the resumption of group trips abroad, predicting that overseas travel will increase significantly next month.”The first overseas trip in 2023 is a group trip of five nights and six days from Shanghai to Phuket, Thailand on the 6th,” a travel agency official told the Global Times, “It was sold out on the day the product was released with low prices and convenient visa services.”In addition to Phuket, the travel agency plans to send group travelers to Bangkok, Thailand and Vientiane, Laos, on the 6th.
A travel agency in Hainan also recently said on a Chinese SNS account, “This year’s first trip to Europe will depart on the 7th,” adding, “Overseas group trips have completely resumed, with dozens of travel products being released.”Chinese online travel agency TripDok (Chinese name: Shecheng) has released 700 tour packages to 15 major cities around the world.An official from Tripdotcom said, “Since many Chinese restaurants abroad have closed due to COVID-19, and local guides have changed their jobs, it takes time to recover the market,” adding, “The number of group travelers will increase significantly in March.”Except Korea, the U.S., and Japan…China Explains Retaliation Measures for Entry Restrictions
Despite China’s resumption of overseas group tours, there will be no Chinese group tourists visiting Korea for the time being.
Earlier, the Chinese government announced 20 countries where overseas group travel is possible following the abolition of quarantine for overseas arrivals last month. Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, Hungary, New Zealand, Fiji, Cuba and Argentina.Korea, the United States, and Japan were not included. It is interpreted as a retaliatory measure to restrict visa issuance due to the recent strengthening of quarantine against inbound travelers from China.The state-run Global Times, affiliated with the People’s Daily, the organization of the Chinese Communist Party, said on the 5th, “We will lose the speciality that the huge demand for overseas travel by Chinese people will bring.” He added that if China resumes group tours abroad, a market worth more than $200 billion will be formed.It is estimated that Thailand and Vietnam will benefit from the restrictions on group travel to Korea and Japan.Jang Won, CEO of Ctrip, said, “Since the announcement of the resumption of overseas travel package sales, the number of overseas group travel products on the platform has increased five-fold in an instant,” adding, “Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, and Cambodia have the highest number of products.”Meanwhile, the government required all entrants from China to undergo PCR tests from January 2 to the end of this month in line with the re-spread of COVID-19. It also restricted the issuance of short-term visas for diplomatic missions in China. In response, China has also taken retaliatory measures, such as restricting visas for inbound travelers from South Korea.
TED PARK
ASIA JOURANL
