WTM: Remove Visa Requirements to Attract Chinese Travelers, Says CBN Head

China stand at WTM London 2023.

Nations wanting to attract Chinese visitors should remove visa requirements, Adam Wu, CBN Travel Chief Operating Officer, said on Tuesday during the World Travel Market (WTM) in London.

CBN is a consortium of entities focusing on outwards investment, outbound travel from China as well as facilitating trade both import and export.

Speaking during a discussion on China at the WTM’s Discover Stage, Wu highlighted that the Chinese “will generally go” where there are fewer barriers.

“Just remove the visa requirements,” he said.

During the discussion, Wu said Chinese outbound tourism had fallen drastically from 2019’s 155 million to 40.4 million in the first half of 2023.

However, he said this was still equal to the population of Spain, adding only 41.6 percent of international flights from China were operating compared to 2019.

Photo Source: Air China

According to Wu, those Chinese who were travelling were spending 24 percent more than in 2019, when a total of $254.6 billion was spent – four times the amount spent by UK outbound tourists.

“The Chinese were now less inclined to travel in groups and wanted a more bespoke experience,” he said.

“There are 1.4 billion Chinese and 380 million middle class, we have 300 million taking up water sports. Just be prepared for the Chinese,” he added

Moreover, Wu said that social media marketing was key to get the attention of Chinese travelers, with Douyin, the Chinese version of Tik Tok, being a powerful channel.

WTM London 2023 will wrap up on Wednesday.

The Greek Travel Pages (GTP) is an official media partner of WTM London.