The development of inbound tourism requires the whole chain to work in the same direction

Promoting the recovery and development of inbound tourism is a systematic project, which needs to coordinate the relationship between the central and local governments, the market and the government, and the supply side and the demand side, and take policy measures as the guide, market forces as the main body, marketing and promotion as the focus, and talent training as the guarantee

Recently, the National Immigration Administration has launched five measures to facilitate foreign personnel to come to China, which is a specific measure to implement the major decision-making and deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference to "effectively break through the blockages of foreign personnel to do business, study and tourism in China", which demonstrates the country's determination and confidence in promoting the recovery and development of inbound tourism and ensuring high-level opening up to the outside world, and plays an important role in promoting the recovery and development of inbound tourism.

Promoting the facilitation of visa and port policies, and facilitating the payment and use of the Internet by foreigners in China are issues that need to be solved urgently to break through the blockages of foreign tourists in China.

In fact, since last year, the relevant departments have played a "combination punch" of policies and measures to optimize the development of inbound tourism. For example, eligible applicants are temporarily exempted from fingerprint collection, the content of the visa application form for foreigners to China is reduced, and the visa processing experience for China is continuously optimized. Recently, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council said in talks with Irish Prime Minister Varadkar that in order to facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries, China will grant Ireland unilateral visa-free treatment. Since the second half of 2023, the mainland has implemented visa-free policies for Singapore, Brunei, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and other countries.

The visa-free policy has a more obvious stimulating effect on the demand for inbound tourism. On December 1, 2023, the mainland tried a unilateral visa-free policy for six countries, including France and Germany, which was widely welcomed and praised by people from relevant countries. According to a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council a few days ago, as of January 9 this year, a total of 147,000 visa-free entrants from six countries had entered the country, showing an overall upward trend. This shows that with the gradual emergence of relevant policy effects, the mainland inbound tourism market is entering a new channel for resuming growth.

The introduction of a series of measures to facilitate the arrival of foreign nationals in China is undoubtedly a major positive for the accelerated recovery and development of inbound tourism, coupled with the gradual improvement in the confidence of operators in the inbound tourism market, and the mainland's inbound tourism has ushered in new development opportunities. Of course, it will take some time for the inbound tourism market to return to pre-pandemic levels. First of all, looking at the world, the inbound tourism market is largely subject to the severe and complex external environment; secondly, based on the mainland, the release and implementation of a series of relevant policy effects launched by the state needs a process; thirdly, based on the inbound tourism itself, the comprehensive repair of the supply chain and the integration and coordination of the supply chain, industrial chain and value chain, more efforts are needed.

Promoting the recovery and development of inbound tourism is a systematic project, which needs to coordinate the relationship between the central and local governments, the market and the government, and the supply side and the demand side, and take policy measures as the guide, market forces as the main body, marketing and promotion as the focus, and talent training as the guarantee.

The first is to focus on making overseas tourists "willing to come", increasing the supply of high-quality products and overseas market promotion. According to a survey report released by the United Nations World Tourism Organization, 40% of international tourism is related to culture, and foreign tourists prefer the culture, history, shopping and food of the mainland. It is very important for foreign tourists to be "willing to come" and to do a good job of "grasping with both hands and one strategy". Focusing on product development, combined with the composition of inbound tourist groups and tourism preferences, we will increase the development of inbound tourism products, string the dots into a line, and string the beads into a chain, so as to create more representative boutique tourism routes that reflect Chinese characteristics. Focusing on overseas marketing, we will comprehensively launch the "Hello China" national tourism image promotion campaign, pay attention to the role of overseas Chinese cultural centers, tourism offices, visa centers, industry media and social platforms, and strengthen precision marketing. At the same time, on this basis, we will carefully compile the strategy and guide for foreigners to travel to China, and strengthen the front-end push to enhance the attraction of foreign tourists.

The second is to improve the accessibility of air transport and the level of customs clearance facilitation around allowing overseas tourists to "come". Improving air transport accessibility is crucial to promoting the recovery and development of inbound tourism. According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, by the end of 2023, scheduled international passenger flights on the mainland will resume to 4,782 flights per week, about 62.8% of the pre-pandemic level. With the continuous optimization and adjustment of the mainland visa policy, the willingness of overseas tourists to travel to China is expected to continue to increase, and it is necessary to further improve the accessibility of air transportation, increase the routes with major source countries and neighboring countries, and increase the frequency of flights. Of course, it is also necessary for relevant departments such as border inspection, ports, and entry and exit to strengthen linkage, coordinate service development and ensure safety, comprehensively optimize port visa policies and procedures, and continuously improve the level of customs clearance facilitation.

The third is to focus on allowing overseas tourists to "swim well" and comprehensively optimize supporting services. From last year's Zibo barbecue out of the circle to the recent boom in ice and snow tourism in Harbin, this wave of popularity has been "hot" overseas, and the global search popularity has continued to rise, which has also attracted many foreign tourists to Harbin to experience the charm of Chinese tourism. The city's business environment, service level and city brand construction experience have brought many inspirations for doing a good job in inbound tourism. It is necessary to focus on empathy and resonance with overseas tourists, focusing on facilitating reservations, resuming international flights, optimizing port visas, improving payment convenience, facilitating transportation, and strengthening the construction of the international language environment, etc., and make great efforts to solve difficulties, break through card points, and break through blockages, so as to continuously improve the experience of overseas tourists.

The fourth is to focus on allowing foreign tourists to "take away", and develop and produce products that highlight Chinese characteristics and cultural connotations. The China Tourism Academy predicts that the scale of inbound and outbound tourism from the mainland is expected to exceed 264 million in 2024. Converting inbound passenger flow into consumption fever and cash flow is also an important part of doing a good job in inbound tourism. It is necessary to focus on key consumer business districts, cultural and creative industrial parks, new formats, new models and new services, and cultivate a number of new consumer brand products of cultural tourism with Chinese characteristics, local characteristics and core competitiveness; The most important thing is to let foreign tourists take away their good impression and good reputation of China, so that they can come to China again in the future. (Special commentator Wang Hongyan) (Source: China Tourism News)