Pakistan sees surge in Chinese tourists
Tourism visa applications by Chinese to Pakistan jumped by nearly fortyfold in the first half of the year, according to a report released on Friday.
Closer relations between the two countries are driving the surge, one travel official said, while netizens also cited Pakistan’s firm support for China on the South China Sea issue.
In the first six months of the year, Chinese tourists began shifting their sights to less famous or not traditionally popular tourism destinations, and “Pakistan is a dark horse”, said a report by Ctrip, a leading online travel agency in China. No precise visa numbers were released.
“Driven by close bilateral relations, many Chinese tourists are putting Pakistan on top of their outbound travel plans,” said Shi Yuzhuan, chief marketing officer of Ctrip.
On many issues that matter to China’s core interests — such as the South China Sea, Tibet and Taiwan — Pakistan has publicly supported China.
Many Chinese netizens are calling Pakistan “Batie”, which means the friendship between China and Pakistan is as strong as iron.
Zhi Shi, a tourist from Yancheng, Jiangsu province, said she is planning to visit Pakistan soon.
“It’s the first country to stand out and support China” after the ruling by the Arbitral Tribunal of The Hague in a case unilaterally brought by the Philippines against China over the South China Sea, said
Zhi. “We should manage to pay back, in a way we can.”
Following Pakistan, African countries such as Kenya and Egypt, as well as Northern Europe, are also attracting Chinese travelers, the report said.
Meanwhile, some traditionally popular destinations suchasFranceandthePhilippines are losing their attraction due to terror attacks and the South China Sea disputes, industry sources said.
France issued 320,000 visas to the Chinese in the first six months of the year, a drop of 15 percent from the same time last year, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday, citing data from the French embassy in Beijing.
“Since the terrorist attacks in Paris last year, many tourists have looked to Eastern European countries such as Hungary and the Czech Republic, or Northern Euro- pean countries such as FinlandandSweden,”saidShiof Ctrip.
Xu Xiaolei, spokesman for China Youth Travel Service Co, said the tourism industry is very fragile.
“International conflicts, natural disasters and terror attacks can easily lead to Chinese tourists canceling their travel plans,” Xu said.
Wang Yanyong, director of the Tourism Development and Planning Research Center at Beijing Jiaotong University, said security is always the top concern for Chinese tourists. Additionally, Wang said, “They like to visit places where they feel welcome.”
Shi also said that more outbound tourists are from China’s second- or third-tier cities. For example, visa applications to the Czech Republic from these cities jumped by fivefold from January to June after the country opened more visa centers in China.