Chinese group tours will restart outbound group travel to a limited number of nations including Cambodia from February 6 2023, says the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

According to a notice posted on the ministry’s website on Friday, a pilot programme that will enable travel companies to offer outbound group travel for Chinese citizens to 20 countries, including Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Laos will go into effect on February 6. Travel firms will also be permitted to provide travellers with airline and hotel packages beginning at the same time.

The decision was made in response to a request from the State Council’s Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism’s foreign affairs panel, states the Ministry. The State Council Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism is the nation’s main task force for responding to COVID-19.

The notice calls on local government officials to comprehend the trial program’s significance in reviving the nation’s tourism industry and how they must look after visitors.

Additionally, it states that authorities must inform tour operators to closely adhere to COVID-19 regulations both at home and abroad. Before boarding the flight, travellers will be advised to make certain they are not infected with COVID-19. They will also be urged to pay attention to their own safety and health, adhere to local COVID-19 rules while travelling, and follow epidemic prevention guidelines once they have arrived back in their home country.

Many bloggers expressed their eagerness to travel abroad in comments about the news on the social networking site Sina Weibo. “I shall travel around the world,” claimed a person going by the moniker “Elegance of Snow Lotus,” while “Bryant Manbahun” remarked, “I have taken my passport out of the box.”

China will no longer require quarantine for foreign immigrants beginning on January 8 according to a Dec. 26 National Health Commission announcement, downgrading COVID-19 management from Class A to Class B. Data from Trip.com, a prominent provider of travel services in China, revealed that just 30 minutes after the announcement, the volume of searches on the company’s search engine for international hotels and aircraft tickets reached a three-year high.

In comparison to the same period the day before, the amount of orders for departure flight tickets increased 254 percent on the morning of December 27. Among the most popular travel destinations for Chinese tourists were Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and the Republic of Korea.

Chinese group tours make a considerable contribution to the Cambodian tourism industy. According to information from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 155 million outbound journeys were undertaken by Chinese citizens in 2019.

Original Source: China Daily.