CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Experience the beauty of mountain city and taste spicy hot pot... With the continuous expansion of the visa-free “circle of friends”, under the 144-hour transit visa-free policy, the statistics of multiple tourism platforms show that Chongqing is becoming a popular city for foreign tourists to enter, the air ticket bookings in the first half of the year was increased by 1.8 times on a year-on-year basis, and more than 10% of foreign tourists came for the second time in six months.

Recently, “China Travel” has been popular on social media around the world, and related videos have been viewed more than 1 billion times. Chongqing, known as the “8D Magic City”, has become a popular place for overseas tourists to visit China with its special attractions and food, such as monorail running through the building and spicy hot pot.

According to National Immigration Administration, in the first half of 2024, there were 14.635 million foreigners entering the country at various ports, with a year-on-year growth rate of 152.7%; and among them, 8.542 million accounting for 52% entered the country through the visa-free policy, with a year-on-year growth rate of 190.1%.

The growth in inbound travelers has also brought about a rapid recovery in inbound tourism. On Qunar, in the first half of 2024, the number of bookings made by travelers using non-Chinese passports between domestic routes increased by 1.8 times compared to 2023. Among them, the number of bookings by travelers holding passport of the United States, Russia, Canada, South Korea, and Australia ranked in the top five, and the number of bookings by travelers holding passport of Malaysia, Japan and Kazakhstan has the most significant growth, with all at over 2.2 times.

In terms of destinations, big cities remain popular destinations for foreign travelers. According to the statistics of Qunar, the top ten popular destinations for foreign travelers by air in China are: Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xi’an, Chongqing, Kunming and Qingdao.

According to Ctrip statistics, the 72/144-hour visa-free transit policy is boosting the inbound tourism growth. The orders for inbound tours in 23 cities in the second quarter increased by 42% compared to the first quarter, with more inbound tourists from Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xiamen, Xi’an and Qingdao, and higher growth rate in Qinhuangdao, Xi’an, Beijing, Chengdu and Chongqing compared to the first quarter.

It is worth mentioning that more and more “advanced” foreign tourists who are not satisfied with flying between cities, have lived in China, have been to China or are good at making guides choose to take high-speed railway to experience Chinese speed. The United States, South Korea, Russia, Vietnam and Malaysia ranked higher in terms of passenger high-speed railway ticket bookings; and Sichuan-Chongqing 2-hour high-speed railway circle, Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai 2-hour high-speed railway circle, and Guangzhou-Shenzhen 2-hour high-speed railway circle were widely popular. (Translated by Vichy, Fathom Language Limited)