UNWTO Expects Reopening of China to Accelerate Global Tourism Recovery

World Travel Alliance meeting. Photo source: @Pololikashvili.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is expecting the reopening of China to accelerate global tourism recovery, said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili attending the opening ceremony of the World Tourism Alliance headquarters in Hangzhou, China.

“I feel so encouraged to travel to China and see the readiness to get tourism back on track. In one word: hope,” said Pololikashvili via his twitter account.

The first UN head of agency to visit China since Covid restrictions were lifted, Pololikashvili said the country’s reopening will serve as a major boost to economic growth and social opportunity both in Asia and the Pacific and globally.

UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. Photo source: @Pololikashvili.

According to UNWTO data, Covid-19 cost destinations worldwide a combined 270 billion dollars in Chinese outbound tourist spending in 2020 and 2021 alone.

The re-opening of borders therefore represents “the moment the world has been waiting for..  and is the final piece in tourism’s recovery’ from the biggest crisis in the sector’s history”, said Pololikashvili who led a high-level delegation to Hangzhou.

China Tourism Minister Hu Heping and Pololikashvili agreed to further deepen their collaboration around positioning tourism on the agenda for international development cooperation and in the key areas of tourism education and tourism for rural development.

Data: China biggest tourism source market before Covid

According to data with regard to the Chinese market:

– China was the biggest tourism source market in the world before the pandemic

– in pre-Covid 2019, Chinese tourists spent a total of 255 billion dollars on international travel

– domestic tourism (in China) supported growth and employment

– the highest performing Asian cities in 2022 were Bangkok, Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo [World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) data]

– Beijing GDP contribution from tourism was just 4 percent below 2019 in 2022 at 32.6 billion dollars; Tokyo – 18 billion dollars, and Seoul – 8 billion dollars (WTTC data).

Beijing, China.

WTTC President & CEO Julia Simpson recently said that Asia has long been “a world-favorite destination” and after more than two years of disruption, “it is great” to see tourists and business travelers heading back.

“Tourism provides a massive boost to both the economy and job creation,” she said, adding that Beijing is set to overtake Paris as the world’s largest city travel and tourism economy within the next decade.

The UNWTO will return to China in September for the Global Tourism Economic Forum (GTEF), to be held in Macau.