- Africa’s tourism industry expects China's reopening to be a significant boost to the sector, as Chinese tourists dominated the market before the pandemic.
- The majority of enquiries are for travel and tours after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday season, which starts from January 22.
Image: COURTESY
International tourist arrivals from China are expected to rise again this year.
This is after the economic powerhouse lifted Covid-19 restrictions on international travel, three years after the onset of the global pandemic.
“We started to receive a few inquiries as of last December when the Chinese government announced it will reopen on January,” Shi Yingying, founder and managing director of the Kenya-based tour operator, Bobu Africa said.
She said although interest is high, many are yet to confirm their trips because Covid rules for travellers coming from China are still in flux.
The majority of enquiries are for travel and tours after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday season, which starts from January 22.
Africa’s tourism industry expects China's reopening to be a significant boost to the sector, as Chinese tourists dominated the market before the pandemic.
Travel agencies and tour operators are increasing efforts to attract Chinese tourists to Kenya and other African countries.
“We are very optimistic, eager and anxious to receive our Chinese clients this year,” Antony Gatimu, operations manager at East Africa Golden Safaris said.
“We are very positive that they are coming in numbers and with the resumption of the Chinese market, we tend to think tourism will be back to where we were in 2018.”
East Africa Golden Safaris focuses on multi-country package deals, and about half of their clients were from China.
Gatimu said the company’s Beijing office projects a 20-25 per cent resumption of its Chinese clientele for its Kenya-Tanzania package from February.
A full recovery though, will take time.
“Tourists will start coming in but not in huge numbers as before Covid. Before Covid, we would have been busy booking for July and August,” Bobu Africa’s Shi Yingying said.
African small business operators are also optimistic that China’s more relaxed inbound travel regulations will help spur global economic growth.
Foreigners are able to enter China for business or to visit family members.
For the past three years, Faheem Mohamed, a Nairobi-based auto parts dealer, has been struggling to keep his business afloat.
Challenges ranged from global supply chain disruptions and production slowdowns, to being unable to visit manufacturers based in China.
“We were facing some challenges on the prices, also the transportation; the containers almost doubled. We also couldn't travel to China to find more supplies or varieties,” Mohamed said.
John Mulei, who has been importing automobile tyres from China for the past ten years, is also looking forward to greater ease of doing business with suppliers in the second-largest economy in the world.
“There will be many changes because many people will be importing things from China because of the cost and the sales will be a bit high,” he said.
“When you import from China, the importation and transportation costs are a bit lower.”
Travellers arriving in China, including returning tourists, no longer have to quarantine, but still need to show a negative Covid test result, taken within 48 hours of departure.