Chinese shopping malls reinvent themselves to attract customers
With a 2,700-square-meter rooftop park and a 300-square-meter indoor kids' playground, customers at the newly-opened Aeon mall in central China's Wuhan city enjoyed experiences that went well beyond conventional shopping. China's brick-and-mortar stores, including shopping centers, supermarkets and convenience stores, are seeking innovative changes in the digital age to attract customers, injecting fresh vitality into offline consumption.
China's post-pandemic pullback: A $129 billion blow to global tourism
China’s overseas travel has never significantly recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the country lifted all pandemic measures over a year ago, foreign tourism remained substantially lower than pre-pandemic levels. Trips by Chinese tourists to the U.S. have fallen dramatically. China’s post-pandemic pullback cut $129 billion from global tourism, according to the Cirium data.
Provinces wage cutthroat competition to woo visitors
Numerous short video clips posted by local authorities on social media platforms are attracting widespread attention from netizens across China. The footage is aimed at turning online engagement into tourism revenue. Hashtags such as "local culture and tourism bureaus going crazy, trying to outperform each other, and open to online suggestions to promote themselves" are trending on several platforms. The cutthroat competition began as authorities attempted to copy the success story of Harbin, the capital of the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, which has become an internet sensation and a must-visit destination this winter.
Trip.com Group reveals Asia's biggest untapped opportunities in tourism
Trip.com Group's CEO, Jane Sun, shared insights at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2024 in Davos, Switzerland, focusing on post-pandemic travel trends and opportunities. The company notes strong booking interest in Asia post-pandemic, particularly in Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. The rise in consumer income has also led to growing trends in the region such as high-quality wellness experiences and event tourism. Ms. Sun asserted that China offers more investment opportunities than what some may have perceived.
Pattaya welcomes Chinese delegation for tourism talks
Pattaya mayor Poramet Ngamphichet welcomed Mr. Shen Yihang, the executive of Kang Li Group, a conglomerate from the People’s Republic of China, along with his delegation to City Hall on January 19 to discuss arrangements for a large group of Chinese tourists’ visit to Pattaya at the end of March 2024. Kang Li Group, a company specializing in the production of health supplements, expressed its desire to bring a group of more than 3,000 tourists, who are their customers, to holiday in Pattaya.
Indonesia aims to attract up to 1.5 million Chinese tourists in 2024
The Indonesian government targets to attract 1 to 1.5 million arrivals of tourists from China in 2024, local media reported Sunday. "Last year, young people dominated the number of Chinese tourists, around 65 percent. They spend long stays, around 5 to 7 days, and prefer adventurous activities, nature and cultures," said Wisnu Sindhutrisno, Director of Regional Tourism Marketing from Indonesia's Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, in Bali on Saturday.
Airlines suspend Israel flights
International airlines suspended hundreds of flights to and from Tel Aviv, as well as some to Lebanon and Jordan, at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7. Hainan Airlines, the only Chinese airline to fly between China and Israel, canceled flights connecting Beijing and Shanghai to Tel Aviv from Oct. 12 to Oct. 31. There has been no further update on its website. Cathay Pacific canceled flights to and from Tel Aviv up to March 28.
Uzbekistan's Centrum Air to launch flights to China
Uzbekistan's Centrum Air and Qanot Sharq Airlines plan to launch flights to Chinese cities, Trend reports. According to the press service of the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Agency, the Ministry of Transport and Uzaeronavigation held talks with Chinese representatives on expanding air service between the countries. In the upcoming spring-summer season, flights between the countries will be operated on the directions Tashkent-Beijing, Tashkent-Xinyang and Tashkent-Chengdu.
Yangtze River cruise tourist numbers hit 20-year high in 2023
The number of Yangtze River cruise passengers exceeded 1.37 million in 2023, marking a 26-percent growth from the 2019 figure and hitting a 20-year high, the China Yangtze Shipping Group Co., LTD. (CYSC) has announced recently. The Yangtze River, China's mother river, is rich in tourism resources, with spectacular landscapes and numerous historic and cultural sites. In particular, the Three Gorges area, boasting magnificent views of mountains and rivers, has attracted loads of tourists from home and abroad every year.
Shanghai's airports record soaring cross-border e-commerce exports
Shanghai's airports received 440 million export declaration forms of cross-border e-commerce goods in 2023, almost triple that of 2022, with a total export value of more than 85 billion yuan ($12 billion), said Shanghai Customs. So far this year, airports in Shanghai have recorded a new daily high of such cross-border e-commerce export declarations, hitting around 2 million declaration forms each day, compared with an average of some 1.2 million forms per day in 2023.
