As the five-day May Day holidays came to an end on Sunday, China welcomed a bustling inbound tourism sector thanks to the country's cost-effective tour products as well as improved measures for foreign visitors, including visa-free policies and optimized payment services.
Experts said that booming tourism during the May Day holidays confirmed the attractiveness of the Chinese market for overseas travelers, and the improving environment for foreigners further showcased the country's commitment to opening-up.
According to a report sent to the Global Times on Sunday, Trip.com said that inbound tour bookings increased by 105 percent year-on-year with the remarkable effect of the visa-free policies.
Tourists from the 12 countries for which China unilaterally waived visas, along with Singapore and Thailand, which have mutual visa exemptions with China, increased by about 2.5 times year-on-year, read the report. Among Chinese provincial capital cities, inbound tour orders grew faster in Urumqi, Xi'an, Hangzhou, Kunming, Hefei and Chengdu.
Walking on the street, people could see UK tourists wearing traditional Chinese hanfu for travel photos at Beijing's Temple of Heaven. In Dongxing, South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Vietnamese tourists took a bus to visit the cultural bazaar, enjoying a different journey involving China-Vietnam border customs.
China's mobile payment system is extremely convenient, with WeChat Pay and Alipay offering both ease of use and security. Additionally, Beijing, as an international metropolis, widely accepts Visa payments, providing numerous options for foreigners, he added.
