Tourism revival of China: Visa-free entry for more than 70 countries fuel foreign arrival; Travel firms report after Covid recovery

China has greatly expanded its visa-free admission policy, allowing citizens of 74 countries to travel for 30 days without visa. The move has increased foreign arrival with a view to reviving inbound tourism and stimulating the economy. Since the late 2023, Beijing has consistently expanded the policy, leading to 30 days short -term trips to Europe, Asia, Latin America and Middle East travelers. According to the Associated Press (AP), more than 20 million people entered China without visa in 2024, doubling the figures of the previous year and more than accounting for about one third of all foreign arrival.“This actually helps people travel because it is a problem for applying for a visa,” said Georgi Shvadaz, a tourist who visited Beijing from Austria quoted by AP. Other people, such as the Norwegian ofystein Sporesheim, welcomed relief from many embassy trips while traveling with children.While most of the footfall remains domestic at tourist destinations, the landscape is shifting rapidly. Gaide, an English -speaking tour guide in Beijing, on June, AP said that he was “overwhelmed by tourism” and started a training program for the guide interested to meet the growing demand. Tour companies are also looking after a revival, Jenny Jhao of Boutique Travel Agency Wildchina said that the business was 50% from pre-political levels, European travelers now made 15–20% of customers, increased by 5% in 2019.One of China’s top entrances, Shanghai, according to local authorities, witnessed 2.6 million foreign trips in the first half of 44.8% year-on-year in the first half of 2025.According to South China Morning Post, Pudong International Airport handled 2.37 million foreign entries while topping the national rankings. In Beijing, 840,000 of the 1.49 million foreign entries were visa-free, while Chengdu saw an increase of 120% in such arrival. Hainan, which allows visa-free travel to 59 countries, recorded about 663,000 foreign entries under the scheme, 89%.Trip.com, a Shanghai-based online travel agency, said that the booking for air travel and hotels in China doubled in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, with 75% of visitors according to visitors, according to AP, according to visitors from visa-free areas.The policy continues. On 16 July, Azerbaijan will become a 75th country for profit. About two-thirds of the currently involved nations are under the period of one year testing.For people outside the plan, including the US, Canada and UK passengers, China offers a 10-day visa-free transit option, provided that the journey includes a third country’s travel. This option applies to 60 designated ports of entry.James Leiang, president of the leading travel firm CTRP, said inbound tourism had already reached 70–80% of pre-covered levels and “perfectly recovered this year”, as quoted by the Shanghai outlet the paper. “If the bottlenecks deal with, he said,” China’s inbound tourism can reach the top level of the world in 10 or 20 years. “