An increasing number of countries are modifying their visa-application procedures in the hope of attracting more visitors from China.
"The number of trips booked to countries with easier visa-application processes has risen sharply in the past few days," said Dai Yu, marketing director of the Tourism Department of Ctrip, an online travel service provider. "When we introduce our travel products, we recommend those countries because of the limited time on offer.
"Now Chinese tourists have a wider range of choices than before, so if they can have a great vacation in a country that doesn't require a visa at all, they won't bother to choose one where it takes days to obtain a permit," said Dai, who added that 49 countries and regions have visa-free or "visa-on-arrival policies" for Chinese citizens.
In 2012, China became the world's largest tourism source market - the World Tourism Organization calculates that Chinese expenditure on foreign travel hit $129 billion in 2013 - and is expected to overtake the United States as the world's largest travel and tourism economy in 2027.
Many countries are now scrambling to ease their visa-application procedures to attract more Chinese visitors and grab a larger slice of the pie.
According to a report released by the World Tourism Cities Federation and Ipsos in August, the top three visa-related problems Chinese outbound tourists experience are time-consuming application procedures, the strict requirements for obtaining visas, and exorbitant fees.
In recent months, many countries have introduced easier ways of obtaining visas, by speeding up the process, reducing the documentation required, opening more application centers, and providing longer term multi-entry visas for regular visitors, despite concerns about issues such as overstays, terrorism, and illegal immigration.
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