China, France eye more direct flights, high-level exchanges
At the latest talk between high-level officials, Beijing and Paris have agreed to increase the frequency of direct flights between the two countries to further facilitate people-to-people exchanges. The agreement was made as senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi co-chaired the 25th China-France Strategic Dialogue with French President's Diplomatic Advisor Emmanuel Bonne in Paris.
Taiwan open to resuming group tours to China
The Taiwan government could consider resuming group tours to China if Beijing is willing to show goodwill on the matter by June 1, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai said yesterday. Wang defended Taiwan’s decision to suspend cross-strait group tourism, which is to take effect on June 1, when interviewed by reporters before attending a plenary session of the legislature.
Trip.com Group doubles annual revenue, outbound booking in Q4 recovers 80%
Trip.com Group reported its full-year results for 2023 with a 122% increase in annual revenue. In the fourth quarter, domestic hotel reservations grew by over 130% year over year. Total bookings on its global OTA platform in Q4 have increased by over 70% year over year.
Trip.com, China Eastern Airlines unveil 'Beyond Shanghai: Experience China' campaign
Trip.com has launched the 'Beyond Shanghai: Experience China' campaign with its partner China Eastern Airlines to boost inbound tourism by offering visitors from international markets such as the UK, Spain, Germany, Australia, and the US an enriching travel experience in China. This initiative is running until June 2024.
Boeing touts 737 Max as ‘the safest airplane,’ says China’s C919 is similar to what’s on the market
Boeing touted its 737 Max aircraft as “the safest airplane” and said China’s latest domestic jetliner Comac C919 is similar to offerings by Airbus and Boeing that are already in the market. Without Boeing’s commercial jets at the Singapore Airshow, all eyes were on passenger planes by Airbus and China’s domestic jetliner Comac C919.
China's civil aviation sees sharp rise in passenger traffic
Civil aviation in China saw a red-hot start to the year in January, with passenger traffic rising 44.6 percent year-on-year. Passenger traffic on international routes also increased significantly, official statistics showed. A total of 54.26 million passenger trips were made by civil aviation in January, or 1.75 million per day, equivalent to 107.9 percent of the pre-pandemic level in 2019, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Wednesday.
Tourism in China gets off to a roaring start in 2024
Beijing received about 17.5 million visitors during the Chinese New Year holiday, representing a 37.4% growth year on year. Tourists flocked to the capital city even several days before the holiday started. The city's popularity was just one example of the travel boom during the Chinese New Year holiday. During the eight-day holiday, 474 million domestic trips were made across China, up 34.3% from last year and 19% from 2019. China's domestic tourist trips are estimated to exceed 6 billion, with the revenue reaching 6 trillion yuan in 2024, while the total number of inbound and outbound trips is expected to exceed 260 million, according to China Tourism Academy.
Beijing to make it easier for mainland solo travelers to visit Hong Kong
Beijing could allow more mainland Chinese tourists to visit Hong Kong by expanding its solo traveler scheme as it “responds proactively” to the city government’s request for more cross-border tourists, according to the South China Morning Post. Mainland authorities are likely to expand solo traveler scheme to help boost Hong Kong’s economy.
