What’s new: China’s tourism ministry is loosening restrictions on package tours to provinces with ongoing Covid outbreaks, in a sign that the country hopes to boost the travel sector after two bruising years.
A Tuesday notice by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said that restrictions on cross-provincial package tours will henceforth be based on the outbreak status of specific destination cities rather than entire provincial-level regions.
They will still be forbidden to travel to cities with areas judged to be at middle or high levels of Covid risk.
Package tours, which include airplane tickets and hotel rooms, are travel agencies’ biggest earners.
The change of policy comes a few days before the Dragon Boat Festival break, which lasts from Friday to Sunday. But several industry sources said that the new rules will take some time to have an effect on travel agencies’ business as local Covid restrictions continue to depress demand.
Some cities require travelers to do Covid tests frequently or make them quarantine on arrival, said a source from a Henan province travel agency. Such restrictions are especially off-putting during such a short holiday, a source at a Yunnan province agency said.
Background: Since August 2021, the ministry has required agencies to suspend package trips to any province with middle or high Covid-risk areas.
In the first quarter this year, travel agencies organized nearly 5 million trips, down 58% year-on-year, official figures showed.
Last year, domestic tourism revenue rose 31% to 2.92 trillion yuan ($438 billion), but that was only half of the 2019 figure and the second-lowest since 2013, according to the ministry.
Contact reporter Manyun Zou (manyunzou@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)
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