The Chinese are venturing abroad again in numbers, visa application data and demand for Schengen visas reveal. Visa applications for foreign travel by Chinese citizens have reached 70% of pre-Covid benchmark levels, according to outsourcing company VSF Global figures. And a destination featuring highly on Chinese travellers’ wishlists is France, which has welcomed a surge in Chinese arrivals that is being attributed to the Paris Olympics.
Inquiries, reservations and trips all up
Despite some commentators and American airlines remarking that the Olympics are turning tourists off, visa applications are not the only evidence of the Chinese appetite for sports with a Parisian flavour. China Eastern Airlines has reported soaring demand for flights between China and France since 2023 and its planes are operating at a relatively high 84% occupancy, while passenger trips in July 2024 are up 3.94% month on month.
What’s more, inquiries and reservations for France have been rising for months again because of the Paris Olympics, said Cheng Xin, a senior consultant at UTour Group Co, reported in the Global Times.
Increasing flight capacity serving soaring demand
The increasing number of Chinese visitors to the City of Lights is also being driven by an increase in flight capacity, with new direct flights to France launched by large carriers such as China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines, in time for the global sporting fixture – and that will continue into September.
That boost in capacity is looking to serve a Chinese penchant for France that is perennial. Even when it is not Olympic season in France, the country is increasingly popular with Chinese visitors, according to VFS, particularly with students and those in the market for upscale European tourism.
Significant increase in enthusiasm
“As one of our largest and most important source markets, China is experiencing a peak in visa applications,” said Kishen Singh, VFS Global’s Chief Operating Officer for the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Mongolia. “With the resumption of flights and changes in visa policies, there has been a significant increase in the enthusiasm of Chinese citizens for high-end outbound tourism.”
Europe benefits from the increased footfall too. China is the number one source for Schengen visa applications, with Chinese citizens filing 1.1 million applications, the VFS GLobal data shows. Germany, Italy, and the UK are all favourites among Chinese vacationers, while other destinations experiencing growing interest from China include Canada, Japan, South Korea, Thail and the US.
