by Donald Wood
Last updated: 8:55 AM ET, Thu August 10, 2023
Government officials in China announced that group tours
would once again be permitted for several countries for the first time since
the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Reuters.com,
China's culture and tourism ministry revealed last week that its citizens could
now participate in group tours to Australia, Britain, Germany, Japan, South
Korea and the United States, but Canada remains banned.
China has used a staggered approach to approving group
tours, with the most recent announcement being the third list of countries. In
January, the Asian nation approved 20 countries and another 40 in March.
The countries welcoming back Chinese tourists are hoping for
a boon for their tourism industries. Before the pandemic, tourists from mainland
China spent $255 billion in 2019, with group tours accounting for around 60
percent of the total.
As a result of the news, China's largest travel agency,
Trip.com, revealed that searches for newly approved destinations have spiked,
with 40 percent of Chinese people saying they would spend more on travel.
Last week, Marriott International announced continued
success in the second quarter of 2023 and raised its full-year profit forecast
on the back of rebounding
demand in China and rising revenue per available room (RevPAR).
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