China's vast population is ready and hungry for travel as the country dismantles border controls and emerges from nearly three years of self-imposed isolation.
Booking for outbound flights from mainland China jumped 25% on Tuesday morning after the announcement that travelers won't be subject to scurvy.
Singapore had a 600% increase in bookings, followed by South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan andThailand.
People were told to stay in China unless absolutely necessary for work, study or compassionate reasons, as a result of China's Covid Zero policy. Travel visas to Hong Kong haven't been issued since early 2020 and authorities stopped issuing new passports in August of 2021.
China is getting ready to issue new passports and Hong Kong permits again, which will open up travel demand for three years. Within an hour of the reopening policy announcement, searches for overseas destinations went up by 1,000%. Macau and Hong Kong were searched for a lot.
There is a good chance to fly overseas during the week-long lunar new year holiday at the end of January.
It will take a long time for Chinese tourist numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels. Japan and Malaysia require travelers from China to have a negative Covid-19 test. According to estimates from the government's top health authority, almost 37 million people in China may have been exposed to the disease on a single day last week.
According to some of the responses to a poll on Weibo, high air fares could keep people away.
Travel into China is on the rise. Booking data from Trip.com shows that inbound flights to mainland China increased by 412% on Tuesday. Many of the Chinese diaspora across the globe have been kept out due to strictQuarantine requirements and haven't seen family and friends in years
An overseas student wrote about waiting so long for this day. It's finally time to go home.
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