Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries attracted last year almost 4 million Chinese tourists, a boost due to the countries' abundant natural resources, special cultural flavor and high security level.
Experts say the Chinese tourists absorbed by the CEE countries are generally interested in Europe, but are reluctant to go to Western Europe because of recent terror attacks there.
It may be the case, but new visa policies, deepened tourism cooperation with China and better promoting campaigns also contribute to its success.
MORE CHINESE TOURISTS IN ROMANIA
Last year, Romania attracted 24.4 percent more Chinese tourists than in 2015, but the number is still far lower than the country's potential, Romanian Tourism Minister Mircea Titus Dobre told Xinhua.
"We simplified visa application procedures after we signed a protocol to enable Chinese tourists to get tourist group visas in two weeks," said the minister.
But a lack of direct flights between China and Romania and scant budgets for promoting Romanian tourism could explain why only 26,000 Chinese tourists visited the country in 2016, a figure accounting for only some 1.1 percent of the total number of international visitors.
Simplified visa procedures for organized Chinese groups could be an incentive to stimulate their trips to Romania, but it still may not be enough, so free visa application seems to be the next step.
A study of the Chinese travel services provider Ctrip noted that "an increasing number of Chinese choose their travel destinations at the last minute."
The trend has prompted around 60 countries to adopt a visa-free policy toward China, whereas other countries like the Unites States allow for a 10-year visitor visa, said the study.
SERBIA'S FREE-VISA POLICY ATTRACTS CHINESE VISITORS
Serbia was the first CEE country to waive visa application requirements for Chinese tourists. A visa-free deal between Serbia and China came into force in January, just in time to benefit from the Chinese New Year travel spree.
According to European Travel Commission (ETC), based on data of February, Serbia was the destination for the largest growing number of Chinese tourists with a 104.8-percent boost.
CHINESE SPENDING FOUR TIMES MORE MONEY THAN OTHERS IN POLAND
The ETC report revealed that the Chinese market is the world's leading outbound market, and that Chinese tourists spend more when travelling than the average tourists from the rest of the world.
According to the World Tourism Organization, Chinese spent 12 percent more on tourism abroad in 2016 than in the previous year.
According to Polish authorities, Chinese tourists spend over four times more money than the average amount.
Polish Radio quoted Karolina Dawidziuk, spokeswoman for Poland's Central Statistical Office (GUS), as saying that last year average Chinese tourists spend more than 7,800 zloty (2,175 U.S. dollars) in Poland. On average, "every foreign tourist spends 1,800 zloty (502 U.S. dollars) in this country," she added.
CHINESE TOURISTS INCREASE IN HUNGARY
Last year, Hungary received more than 170,000 Chinese tourists, a 35.7-percent rise compared to that in 2015, according to the Hungarian Tourism Agency.
Chinese visitors account for as much as 3.3 percent of last year's total international arrivals, which stood at 5.3 million.
The China-CEE Tourism Coordination Center (TCC), established in May 2014 in Budapest, played an important role in luring more Chinese tourists to Hungary.
Last year, Czech hotels attracted 354,700 Chinese tourists, a 52.9-percent increase than in 2015, according to the country's statistic institute.
Lying in the heart of Europe, the country attracted 7.1 million foreign tourists last year, almost 5 percent of whom came from China.
The Bohemian city of Prague attracted the majority of the Chinese visitors.
SLOVAKIA ATTRACTING MORE CHINESE VISITORS
Although Slovakia is a small country, its castles, towns and mountains saw a rebound in tourism arrivals last year, to a record of over 5 million. Extensive international media coverage of the country's presiding of the EU Council in the second half of 2016 could be part of the reason why the number of tourists soared.
Foreign visitors rose by 17.8 percent in 2016 from the previous year to 2.02 million, and the number of Chinese tourists rose by 46.8 percent to over 41,300 visitors from 28,100, according to stakeholders' statistics.
GOOD POLICIES HELPING CEE ATTRACT MORE CHINESE TOURISTS
The European Travel Commission's latest report suggests that the number of Chinese tourists will grow from 3.9 million tourists in 2016 at an annual rate of 7.9 percent in the next five years.
"China's economic growth is expected to remain stable, as it continues to adopt proactive fiscal policies," said the ETC report.
Apart from simplifying visa application procedures and establishing direct flights with Chinese cities to reduce travel fees, CEE countries should also enhance the region's attraction for Chinese tourists, including opening up the tourism industry to Chinese investment, said Romania's tourism minister.
"Romania's Ministry of Tourism will continue to develop good relations with China. We will also encourage further cooperation with Chinese partners in tourism investments, as our country has inestimable opportunities to capitalize on the tourism potential," he added.
The regional countries' participation in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative helps them lure more Chinese tourists. Experts say more Chinese-tailored tourism products need to be developed to attract an increasing number of Chinese tourists.
京公网安备 11010502048770号
