B&R tourism promising, expert
With the in-depth implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, the prospect of Belt and Road tourism has become increasingly broad. Travel agencies have scrambled to speed up market layout in this regard.
According to Hu Zhimin, vice president of China International Travel Service Limited, Head Office (CITIS), China's outbound travel has taken on a trend of individuality and diversity. The tourist destinations in the Belt and Road countries have offered Chinese passengers more choices. CITIS will strengthen its cooperation with tourist destinations to deliver better products and services to Chinese tourists in the future.
Data released by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) show that 82.6 percent of Chinese residents are willing to travel in the fourth quarter. According to the reservation data from travel agencies, Belt and Road tourism products and route reservations have become new choices of outbound travel.
The boom of Belt and Road tourism is attributed to the increasingly deepened cooperation among the Belt and Road countries, as well as the increasingly rich tourism products. Furthermore, ever-improved tourist visa policies have brought convenience to tourists. China has signed visa-free agreements on group travel with Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
The Belt and Road countries have shown their sincerity in attracting Chinese tourists. "We welcome Chinese tourists and will keep going," said Sergei Ivanov, chairman of the State Committee on Tourism, Republic of Tatarstan, adding that Belt and Road construction will not only boost national economic and social development, but also promote mutual understanding and friendship among the people of the countries involved.
A head of CNTA said that the Belt and Road countries are rich in tourism resources. It is estimated that China and the Belt and Road countries have exchanged over 25 million tourists by far. In the future, China will continue to strengthen tourism cooperation with these countries in order to offer tourists better experiences and make tourism a way to enhancing people-to-people connectivity.
