Tourism winning the numbers game after eased visa policies

BELGRADE — When the mutual visa-free regime between Serbia and China came into effect early last year — making Serbia the first European country to lift visa requirement for Chinese nationals traveling to the country — other countries in the Balkan region followed suit.

This year, Chinese tourists will not have to apply for a visa to visit Albania during the peak tourist season from April 1 to Oct 30, while Bosnia and Herzegovina’s mutual visafree regime with China took effect on May 29.

Canceling or streamlining visa applications between China and Central and Eastern European countries is a pillar of the cooperation mechanism between the two sides that has brought tangible benefits to the public.

Miodrag Popovic, director of the Tourist Organization of Belgrade, said that visa liberalization is proof of good relations between China and Serbia, in both the political and economic spheres, adding “this decision was made in order to additionally strengthen our cultural and economic ties”.

Marija Labovic, director of the Tourist Organization of Serbia, said he believed that visas were abolished because of the excellent relations between the two countries throughout the past decades. The decision, he said, reflected the two peoples’ deep respect for and understanding of each other.

Following the simplification of the visa application process for Chinese nationals, Romania is expected to attract more Chinese tourists, thus injecting vitality into its tourism industry. Bogdan Trif, the country’s minister of tourism, has expressed his country’s willingness to become a main tourist destination for Chinese people.

China opened a visa application service center in Romania’s capital Bucharest, the first inside the EU, on June 22 to facilitate the visa process and provide better service to Romanians applying for Chinese visas.

Important decision

According to data from Serbia’s Statistical Office, a total of 18,530 Chinese tourists visited Serbia between Jan 1 and May 1, up 13 percent compared to the same period last year. Labovic said the number indicates the decision to abolish visa requirement for Chinese tourists is “wise and important”.

Trif said 2017 witnessed a 22 percent increase year-on-year of Chinese tourists in Romania. In Albania, Chinese tourists increased by 69 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year, according to Gertion Cobo, an expert associated with the country’s Ministry of Tourism and Environment.

According to BiH’s Agency for Statistics, from January to April 2018, Chinese tourists coming to the country increased 77.9 percent year-onyear, while the number of tourists who stayed overnight in the country rose 69.6 percent.

Mirko Sarovic, BiH’s minister of foreign trade and economic relations, said that the Balkan region as a whole has become a more popular destination for Chinese tourists in recent years.

“Visa liberalization with China will strongly boost the tourism industry of BiH and the first results will be evident this year,” Sarovic said.

There have been some 30,000 Chinese tourists to BiH in 2017, and Sarovic expects the number to reach 50,000 in 2018 as BiH joins the list of visa-free nations for Chinese tourists.