Beijing arrivals slump, despite visa waiver
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The launch of a 72-hour visa waiver scheme for transit visitors has had little impact on Beijing’s tourism trade this year.
According to the latest data from the city’s tourism bureau, reported by Xinhua, visitor arrivals to Beijing dropped 14.3% to 2.14 million in the first six months of 2013. This will be a blow to tourism officials, who launched the 72-hour visa-free policy on 1 January 2013 in the hope of boosting short-stay visits.
The poor figures were largely due to declining visitation from Beijing’s top two source markets, Japan and South Korea, which plummeted 54.5% and 22.3% respectively, as a result of the stronger yuan and territorial disputes.
To reverse this trend, Beijing Commission of Tourism Development said it would now work on new promotions aligned with the 72-hour visa waiver policy.
“The city is considering further cooperation with Beijing Capital International Airport and Air China to come up with air ticket discounts, while building an alliance to attract more foreign transit tourists,” the commission’s director, Lu Yong, was quoted saying.
Last week, Guangzhou became the third Chinese city (after Shanghai and Beijing) to offer 72 hours of visa-free travel to transit air passengers. Chengdu is expected to join the scheme in the coming months.
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