Chinese travellers are making a robust comeback in global tourism, considering that the number of visa applications is rising.
In the first half of 2024, Chinese nationals reached over 70 percent of visa application rates, VisaGuide.World reports.
The news was shared by VFS Global, an outsourcing and technology service agency, which also told the Global Times that Europe is an increasingly popular destination, especially due to the Olympics, scheduled to take place in Paris on July 26.
Chinese Excited to Travel to France for the Olympics
China Eastern Airlines has revealed that flights between China and France, have transported 16,000 passenger trips in the first 18 days ahead of the Olympics. The same said that flight occupancy was quite high (84.48 percent). Compared to June 2024, passenger trips are 3.94 percent higher.
The airline also pointed out that the booking volume for flights between the two countries has soared in 2023, surpassing the pre-pandemic levels by 1.02 percent.
Some of the major carriers in China, including China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, have launched new direct flights to France to increase them ahead of Olympics.
Apart from Europe, Chinese Nationals Chose to Travel to Nearby Countries
According to VFS, Europe is rising in popularity among Chinese travellers not only because of the Olympics but also due to study tours and visits.
As one of our largest and most important source markets, China is experiencing a peak in visa applications. With the resumption of flights and changes in visa policies, there has been a significant increase in the enthusiasm of Chinese citizens for high-end outbound tourism.
Except for France, Chinese travellers are also interested in visiting Germany, Italy, the UK as well as North America, including here the US and Canada. Japan, South Korea and Thailand are also popular destinations among Chinese travelers.
Chinese Became Top Applicants for Schengen Visas in 2023
According to statistics published by SchengenVisaInfo, Chinese are the top visa applicants for Schengen visas in 2023, filing a total of 1.1 million applications.
The majority of these visas were approved – 93 percent out of the total, and 41.8 per cent of the approved visas were multiple entries.
France is the country that received the highest number of visa requests from Chinese applicants, while Estonia received the fewest – 603 applications.