China’s Great Reopening: Take 2

On January 8, 2023, China reopened its borders for travel, ending a three-year closure during the Covid pandemic. Most analysts predicted a surge in travel. It didn’t happen. And one year later, the world is still waiting. 

But many in the industry say this will finally be the year. In the words of Michael Jones, co-founder of China Create Consulting, “2023 was the year of China reopening to the world, while 2024 will be the year of consolidating and growing outbound tourism.”

Really, they have no choice but to be optimistic. Let’s remember how important China is to travel.

Prior to the pandemic, China was the world’s largest outbound tourism market. Chinese tourists accounted for a total of 20% of total spending in international tourism. They spent around $277 billion in 2018 and $255 billion in 2019. That’s huge.

“By virtue of being the world’s largest economy, based on purchasing power parity, the financial capacity of the average Chinese citizen contributes significantly (to global travel sales),” says Alexander Glos, CEO of China i2i Group.

Will the rebound we hoped would start a year ago, finally take hold? 

In this story, we'll cover:

Why its recovery has taken the path it has China's path to reviving outbound tourism China's effort to revive inbound tourism The new Chinese traveler The stay-at-home Chinese China's Road to Recovery

China's travel rebound has been impacted by three issues: Limited flights, exorbitant prices and difficulty obtaining visas.

Things are now moving in the right direction. 

2023 was the year of China reopening to the world, while 2024 will be the year of consolidating and growing outbound tourism.

Michael Jones, co-founder of China Create Consulting

China’s international seat capacity in December 2023 was just 62% of December 2019 levels, according to aviation analyst firm OAG. But the key is the trend.

“A year ago we were somewhere around 10% of pre-pandemic levels, and by the end of the year we had reac