On Thursday 1 June 2017, Denmark opened new visa centers in three Chinese cities; Fuzhou, Shenzhen and Xi’an.

 

The three new centers are part of Denmark’s continued efforts to ease the journey of an increasing number of Chinese tourists in connection with China Denmark Tourism Year in 2017, as well as ease the pressure on the nine existing visa centers in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Shanghai and Shenyang. In spring 2016, five new centers were opened in China.

 

“I am very pleased to see the new visa centers open their doors in Fuzhou, Shenzhen and Xi’an, whose provinces represent a total population of 186 million. This marks our progress in promoting what Denmark has to offer as a destination for both sights and business travelers, “says A. Carsten Damsgaard, Ambassador of Denmark to China.

 

“What is geographically significant is that the center in Xi’an will give applicants from five provinces and regions in northwestern China easier access to Denmark and Europe.”

 

Denmark was among the first EU countries that opened visa centers in China in 2010, and since then tourism has flourished. The Danish government expects to receive 262,000 Chinese travelers this year, up from 218,000 in 2016. The figure was 50,000 in 2009.

 

Tourism has gained another boost from the social media posting from the Beijing embassy on an invasive species of Pacific oceans along the Limfjord coasts, which has attracted tens of thousands of interactions in Chinese social media about a possible “dining trip” to Denmark.

 

History has succeeded in creating increased interest in North Jutland and the west coast, which is good for Danish tourism, as Chinese tourists have so far primarily visited Copenhagen and Odense when they were in Denmark.