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Countries Are Lowering Visa Requirements to Accommodate Chinese Tourists

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An increasing number of European countries are altering their visa-application procedures to draw in tourists from China. In 2012, China became the largest tourism source market in the world; last year alone, Chinese tourists spent $129 billion on foreign travel. By 2027, the country is expected to to have exceeded the United States as the world’s biggest travel and tourism economy. The boom is encouraging countries all over the world to make travel easier for tourists from China. According to Dai Yu, marketing director of the Tourism Department of the online travel service provider Ctrip, 49 countries and regions across the globe now have visa-free or “visa-on-arrival policies” for Chinese travelers. “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,” Dai tells China Daily. A recent report from the World Tourism Cities Federation and Ipsos lends credence to Dai’s claim. It lists “time-consuming application procedures, the strict requirements for obtaining visas, and exorbitant fees” as the top three visa-related issues outbound tourists from China face. Countries are now working to minimize these obstacles by making it easier to obtain visas, reducing required documentation, speeding up the procedure, opening more application centers, and providing regular visitors with longer term multi-entry visas.

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