The UEFA European Football Championship and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 are boosting tourism from China to European countries, according to travel services.
Driven by these sports events, reservations for tourism products have witnessed a year-on-year increase of around 30 percent to 40 percent.
"The UEFA European Football Championship has also stimulated the tourism market in other European countries. Currently, hotel bookings in Italy have tripled compared to those last year through July. France, Spain, and the United Kingdom have also more than doubled," said Liu Ting, senior manager at the Public Affairs Department of a tourism platform.
Data from tourism platforms show that as more people travel to Europe, the prices of flight tickets and hotels have risen in varying degrees.
"It's a good time to book tourism products for August in Europe. For those planning independent travel to Europe in July, visa processing time for popular tourist destinations like Germany and France may be very short," said Li Mengran, media and public relations manager at a tourism group.
According to official statistics from visa application service provider VFS, the number of German visa applications from China increased by 16 percent from January to April this year, compared to the same period in 2019.
European tourism surges amid UEFA Championship, Olympic Games Paris 2024
European tourism surges amid UEFA Championship, Olympic Games Paris 2024
The 2024 Kazakhstan Tourism Year in China officially closed on Wednesday in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, with fruitful results achieved in promoting travel between the two countries. An international tourism forum was held within the framework of the closing ceremony. About 300 people, including Kazakhstan's Vice Minister of Tourism and Sports Yerkinbayev Yerzhan Malikovich, Chinese Consul General in Almaty Jiang Wei, and representatives from tourism and media of both countries, attended the event.
Yerkinbayev said that Kazakhstan plans to expand passenger capacity at land ports connecting the countries and increase investment in tourism infrastructure construction to attract more Chinese tourists.
"We are seeing more and more Chinese tourists coming to Kazakhstan, so we should improve tourism infrastructure and not let these visitors down. Today at the forum we announced that we will open new border crossings and improve the facilities at existing ones. Some improvement work has already started this year, making these crossings convenient not only for the clearance of goods but also for people," he said.
"The leaders of the two countries have announced that 2025 will be the Chinese Tourism Year in Kazakhstan. We are looking forward to the series of activities planned by our Chinese colleagues, and will fully support every event to be held in Kazakhstan next year," he added.
Jiang, the Chinese Consul General in Almaty, said that all-round and high-level China-Kazakhstan tourism cooperation has been launched, which will inject new impetus into promoting mutual understanding between the two peoples and building a more meaningful and dynamic China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future.
"Since the launch of the Kazakhstan Tourism Year event, departments at all levels of the two countries, especially the tourism departments, have held promotion meetings, forums, and tourism exhibitions in both countries, providing tourists with a variety of colorful activities. Such events have opened up windows for promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the two countries and enhancing mutual learning between civilizations," Jiang said.
At the closing ceremony, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan presented the "Most Influential International Media Cooperation Award" to CCTV-4 Channel of China Media Group (CMG), commending the three-part documentary "Bond with China—For the Common Dream" produced in cooperation with the Khabar Media Group of Kazakhstan.
The program was launched in July this year at a China-Kazakhstan cultural exchange event organized by CMG, and was aired simultaneously on China's CCTV-4, the TV channels under the Khabar Media Group, and Atameken TV.
Daniyel Serzhanuly, deputy chairman of the board for the Kazakh Tourism National Company, said that the documentary showcases the culture and beautiful scenery of Kazakhstan to Chinese audiences. He expressed hope for deepened cooperation in media between the two countries.
"Among the more than 30 cooperation projects implemented under the tourism year program, there are media cooperation projects. The most successful one is the three-part documentary about Kazakhstan produced in cooperation with CCTV-4. The program was launched before the SCO Summit, which showed the tourism potential of Kazakhstan to Chinese audiences and improved Chinese people's understanding of Kazakhstan," he said.
Two sub-forums and a B2B tourism business negotiation meeting were also held within the framework of the closing ceremony.
2024 Kazakhstan Tourism Year in China closes with fruitful results
