China allows visa-free entry for foreign tour groups via cruise ships
Representative image.
China onWednesday (May 15) allowed visa-free entry for foreign tour groups that come to the country via cruise ships.Citing the National Immigration Administration, a report by Bloomberg said that overseas tour groups on cruise boats will be able toenter and stay in China without a visa for up to 15 days.This measure has been introduced by Beijing in a further bid to attractinternational visitors and boost its sluggish inbound travel market.
Addressing a press conference,Mao Xu, a senior official with the immigration administration, said that tour groupscanenter China from13 portsincludingShanghai, Qingdao, Dalian and Haikou.
"Qualifying tour groups need to be received and handled by domestic travel agencies and will be allowed to travel to coastal provinces as well asBeijing,while they are in China,"Mao added.
The advantages
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Mao told reporters that the visa-free entry policy for foreign tour groups on cruise ships would provide policy support for developingChina'scruise industry.
"It will also help attract more foreign tourists to China and provide more convenient channels forpeople-to-people exchanges between China and other countries,"theofficial added.
AlsoduringWednesday'spress conference, Transport Ministry officialZhu Zhenyu said that China has21 international cruise ships that ply thecountry’sports en route to other destinations like Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
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Last year,107,000 passenger trips were madevia cruise ships in the country, Zhu said.
A push to attract more international travellers
China since last year hastaken several measuresto attract more international visitors, including visa-free entry for travellers from some European and Asian countries, including Singapore, reported Bloomberg.
(With inputs from agencies)