Lack of Chinese visitors hinders Philippines tourism growth
The slow return of Chinese tourists has been holding back travel recovery in the Philippines, Bank of America(BofA) said in a new report that highlighted the “uneven” recovery in Asia tourism. In the Philippines, BofA noted that foreign visitor arrivals were still 76 percent of pre-pandemic levels as of February this year, albeit much better than Hong Kong’s 73.7 percent and Taiwan’s January 2024 figure of 69.6 percent.
Taiwan tourism officials reassure Japan travelers over quake
Representatives from Taiwan joined officials from Japan at a promotional travel event in Tokyo last Thursday. Officials from Taiwan's tourism industry have come to Japan to drum up business from prospective travelers. They're reassuring people that life is back to normal outside the area hit by a powerful earthquake half a month ago.
Tencent enhances digital payment services for overseas tourists in China
Tencent has unveiled new measures to improve the payment experience for international tourists visiting China, simplifying card linking procedures and expanding integration with overseas e-wallets such as Paynet. Overseas users can now easily create a WeChat account using their country's phone number and securely register or log in to their account.
Prague to Beijing direct flights resume, boosting tourism
Hainan Airlines restarts thrice-weekly direct flights from Prague to Beijing, enhancing tourism between the cities. Hainan Airlines currently operates over 40 international and regional passenger routes from China, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Haikou, Chongqing, Xi’an, Changsha, Taiyuan, Dalian, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou.
Folk festival holidays help attract tourists
Some ethnic groups' folk festivals have boosted tourism in China's border cities with their hospitality and cultural riches. People in Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region have just finished their four-day Sanyuesan Festival. Held from the third day of the third month in the Chinese lunar calendar, it is a traditional festival for the region's Zhuang ethnic group.
Hong Kong emerges as top choice for mainland tourists on Xiaohongshu
Xiaohongshu, a popular social media platform, has an impressive 200 million active users, with over 70% born in the 1990s. It has established a strong partnership with the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), working together to promote Hong Kong tourism. This collaboration aims to enhance efforts in reaching Mainland visitor markets by leveraging Xiaohongshu’s platform for cultural tourism promotion.
Georgian Airways and Sichuan Tourism sign deal for direct flights
“Georgian Airways” and Sichuan’s International Tourism Department have inked a memorandum for launching scheduled passenger flights connecting Georgia and China. The signing event took place in Chengdu, China. The carrier plans to commence regular passenger flights on the Chengdu-Tbilisi-Chengdu route starting from June, utilizing the airline’s European destinations operated from Tbilisi.
China visitor comeback aids Resorts World Sentosa
The improvement in volume of Chinese visitors to Singapore “is expected to contribute positively” to the “performance” of the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino resort. Chinese visitor volume for the first three months of this year was 81.8 percent of first-quarter 2019. The Singapore inbound tourism market as a whole, recovered to 92.8 percent of first-quarter 2019. Genting Singapore said that China surpassed Indonesia to become the biggest source of tourists for Singapore in February 2024.
