The Chinese capital Beijing is gearing up for the promotion of its 72-hour visa-free policy. The new policy by the Chinese government has been introduced in order to attract more foreign tourists, after a decrease in arrivals for overnight stays in the past six months. Beijing had around 2.14 million tourists visiting from January 2013 until June 2013.
Lu Young, director of the Beijing Commission of Tourism Development at a conference said, “The city is considering further cooperation with Beijing Capital International Airport and AirChina to come up with air ticket discounts, while building an alliance to attract more foreign transit tourists”. The new, 72-hour visa-free policy has been introduced from 45 countries on January 1, 2013, but it did not have the effect that was expected.
The commission said that in the first six months of 1989, 1998, 2003 and 2008, the capital also saw a year-on-year decline in inbound tourists. Moreover, the weak global economy was also responsible for a decreased number of potential travelers from Japan and South Korea. The tourist arrivals from these two countries fell by 54.5 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively, in the first six months of 2013.
Young went on to say that a stronger yuan, which increases the cost for tourists in China and frequent air pollution have also contributed to the tourism performance.
Photo Credits: Travel Daily News
