Great Wall: China has hinted that international tourists could soon return. Photo / Markus Winkler, Unsplash
Great Wall: China has hinted that international tourists could soon return. Photo / Markus Winkler, Unsplash
After 1000 days China has eased its Covid travel restrictions on foreign nationals.
One of the first to shut its borders due to the pandemic and the last to reopen to tourists, China on Sunday dropped arrival tests and quarantine requirements for all travellers.
Visitors are no longer required to quarantine or provide nucleic acid tests on entry to the country. Although pre-departure tests are still in place, this will be welcome news for travellers and those who have been separated from friends and family for over three years.
The new rules are a glimpse of hope to those wishing to visit for leisure but, apart from for business or family visits, few visas are being granted to foreign nationals.
MFAT’s official advice remains cautious regarding travel to China. The Embassy for the PRC in New Zealand has also said that it would continue to monitor trends for Covid 19 and adjust travel requirements accordingly.
Still, there will be plenty of New Zealanders wanting to travel to the country.
The change comes just ahead of Lunar New Year, at the end of the month. Falling on January 22, it is traditionally a peak season for visiting family and overseas holidays. Prior to the pandemic, the holiday was one of the largest annual travel events, with almost 2.5 billion passenger movements in 2019.
There continues to be plenty of appetite not only for travel from China but for inbound travellers too.
Travel specialist Wendy Wu saw a 120 per cent spike in demand following the announcement on 27 December.
New Zealand Managing Director Paul Dymond said the company was “ready to step into action with our first group tours as soon as we receive the green light from China.”
Wendy Wu said it would be the first escorted tour operator to bring visitors into China from New Zealand, Australia and the UK. The latest changes gave tourism operators hope that a general reopening was not far off.
Return to international travel: China and its SARs including Macau are hoping for a bumper Lunar New Year travel season as restrictions end. Photo / Getty Images, Lucas Schifres
Despite the lack of a fixed international tourism restart date, demand was strongest for the end of the year and 2024,
“The country has had three years without tourism to rejuvenate and refresh and so as preparations begin to reopen the borders, China is eagerly looking forward to welcoming visitors again,” said Dymond.
Capacity on air routes into and out of China remains largely reduced but is set to take off again.
The Associated Press reports 300,000 onward bookings from Hong Kong into Mainland China since the announcement of easing restrictions.
The only blemish on the good news for travel around the world’s most populous country has been rising infection numbers and inconsistent case reporting.
China’s National Health Commission on Sunday reported 7072 new confirmed cases of local transmission and two new deaths — even as individual provinces were reporting as many as 1 million cases per day. This has led some destinations to reimpose travel restrictions on arrivals from China.
Germany, Sweden and Portugal have introduced new Covid-19 testing requirements for flights from China, hoping to avoid the import of possible new variants.
New Zealand however said that it would not be introducing any new restrictions for visitors from the country.
“Visitors won’t contribute significantly to our Covid case numbers, meaning entry restrictions aren’t required or justified,” read a statement from Covid-19 Response minister Dr Ayesha Verrall.
China travel requirements from New Zealand
As of yesterday, visitors to China no longer are required to quarantine or undergo testing on arrival.
Providing travellers do not report any symptoms in their health decoration or during entry inspection, they are free to enter.
A pre-departure nucleic acid test is still required to enter mainland China, with results to be submitted via the official online Health Declaration.
Although New Zealanders are not being granted visas or visa waivers for the purpose of leisure at this time, it will be welcome news for Chinese residents or citizens wishing to travel internationally.
The change is likely to make travel easier and more appealing to Chinese nationals living and studying abroad, now they are not longer faced with expensive flights and managed quarantine periods.
More updates to travel requirements are expected early this year. However the Embassy of the PRC in New Zealand said that it would not be completely removing pandemic travel measures.
“The Chinese Government will continue to monitor the latest trends of the pandemic, and adjust the disease control practices accordingly to facilitate entry and exit of personnel,” it said in a statement.
Following a series of snap lockdowns and local travel restrictions, New Zealand’s MFAT continues to advise Kiwis in China to prepare for changes to be made with little notice.
“New Zealanders in China are recommended to prepare for measures being put in place at their location” and that travel out of the country may be subject to flight suspensions and re-routing from their intended destination, “with little or no warning.”
