Tourism experts and industry insiders have called for streamlining visa issuance procedures and improving services in transportation, payment and accommodations for international travelers, aiming to accelerate the recovery of the inbound tourism market and boost industry operators' confidence.

In the first half of this year, China Immigration Department recorded a total of 168 million arrivals and departures from the Chinese mainland, which is around 49 percent of the figure in the same period in 2019.

Of these arrivals and departures, about 74.9 million were made by residents from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan, while nearly 8.44 million were made by foreign travelers.

Most of them were on business trips and conferences, while a few were for sightseeing.

Time-consuming visa application procedures and expensive international flight tickets have also hampered the recovery of international travel to the mainland.

To recoverthe market, China took measures to ease its entry policies for overseas travelers earlier this year.

The Beijing-Naha direct flight will be resumed in mid-September with a simplified Chinese visa application procedure for people in Okinawa.

Experts said this reflected China’s response to the appeal of Okinawan Governor Denny Tamaki, who expressed a wish to boost exchanges between Okinawa and China during his visit in early July.

Air China will resume the direct flight between Beijing and Naha on September 17, after the flight was suspendedin 2020.

The resumption of the Naha-Beijing direct flight and the simplified visa application procedure for Okinawan people can be seen as results achieved from Danny Tamaki’s visit to China. 

The Chinese side has responded to his requests.

These measures will assist Okinawans in traveling to China, which is significant for promoting two-way cultural exchanges between Okinawa and China.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays approach in late September and early October, many other countries are looking forward to and warmly welcoming more Chinese tourists.

Source: Global Times , CAAC,  China Immi Dept,