Status: 12/27/2022 4:04 p.m
For a long time, people from China were hardly able to travel – also because of the isolation requirement after their return. This is to be eliminated in the future, and the interest in bookings is correspondingly high. Airlines are exploring whether to expand their offerings.
In the course of the planned end of the corona quarantine obligation for returnees from abroad, interest in China in flight connections has increased sharply. On the Internet, searches for flights abroad increased significantly, as reported by Chinese state media.
According to state media, the Tongcheng platform saw an 850 percent increase in searches for air travel. At competitor Trip.com, search queries increased tenfold compared to the previous year within half an hour of the announcement. Accordingly, trips to Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and South Korea met with particular interest.
Visas for foreigners remain suspended
According to the Chinese authorities, a negative corona test that must not be older than 48 hours is sufficient for Chinese people entering the country from January 8th. The previously applicable isolation obligation then no longer applies.
Visas for tourists and students from abroad are currently largely suspended. However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin announced that Beijing will “continue to adjust its visa policy scientifically and dynamically in accordance with the epidemic situation.”
“The spring comes”
Before the virus pandemic largely paralyzed global travel, China was the largest so-called exit market in tourism worldwide. Chinese people spent $127.5 billion on travel abroad in 2019.
It is unclear whether the simplifications will actually quickly lead to a new travel boom, but they were met with enthusiasm in China. “It’s over. Spring is coming,” according to the AFP news agency, wrote a user of the online service Weibo, who received numerous positive reactions. “Preparing for my trip abroad!” wrote another. Equity markets in Asia and Europe also reacted positively.
Individual new offers are already being planned
The openings and new perspectives are also calling airlines and travel groups onto the scene. They are exploring whether and how much to expand their business in China. Lufthansa welcomed the Chinese authorities’ decision to relax entry restrictions. This will help international air traffic recover, said a company spokeswoman. The Lufthansa Group is now checking to what extent or how long it can adjust its flight schedule to and from mainland China.
Lufthansa currently flies four times a week from Frankfurt to Beijing and Shanghai. The subsidiary Austrian had already announced before the easing that it would be flying from Vienna to Shanghai twice a week instead of once a week from January 13th.
The travel group TUI said that the announced travel simplifications should have a positive effect on the currently limited range of flights to China. “This makes city and study trips more interesting for holidaymakers and more attractive in terms of price,” said a TUI spokesman. For the first quarter of 2023, TUI Cruises’ “Mein Schiff” fleet has already planned to return to Hong Kong – “a positive environment should be conducive here”.
Radical U-turn in Corona policy
In early December, the Chinese government moved away from its strict zero-Covid policy in a radical about-face. Since then, the corona virus has been spreading rapidly in China. According to officially unconfirmed internal estimates, 248 million people or 18 percent of the population were infected with Corona in the first three weeks of December alone. Hospitals are overcrowded and many crematoria can no longer cremate the corpses quickly enough. According to projections by experts, hundreds of thousands of deaths are to be expected.
In view of the corona wave in China, Japan is increasing its border controls for travelers from the People’s Republic. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said all visitors from China would have to present a corona test upon entry from Friday. So far, the antigen test has only been carried out if there is a suspicion of an infection in the person entering the country.
If the corona test is positive, travelers entering Japan will be quarantined in special accommodation for seven days. Kishida said a lack of information and transparency about the infection situation in China makes it difficult to adopt safety measures. There are big discrepancies between information from central and local authorities in China, and between the government and private organizations, he said. “Concern in Japan is growing,” Kishida said.