Foreign tourists experiencing bike tours along Beijing Central Axis
According to the statistics released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism on October 20, Beijing received a total of 2.719 million inbound tourist visits from January to September, marking a 207.8% year-on-year increase and a recovery to 82.0% of the 2019 levels. The city’s tourism sector achieved USD 3.41 billion in foreign exchange revenue, a 168.5% year-on-year increase, reaching 74.7% of the 2019 levels. Since April, the number of inbound tourists has remained stable, surpassing 300,000 each month, peaking in September with 384,000 visits. The statistics indicate a clear upward trend and a gradual return to the 2019 levels.
U.S., Russian, and Japanese Tourists Rank Top Three
According to the latest statistics from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, from January to September, the composition of tourists is as follows: 505,000 visits from Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan region, accounting for 18.6% of the total; 2.214 million foreign visits, making up 81.4%. Among the foreign visits, 909,000 were from Asia (excluding Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and Taiwan region); 761,000 from Europe; 347,000 from the Americas; 80,000 from Oceania; and 83,000 from Africa.
Among major tourist sources, the U.S. ranked first with 280,000 visits, recovering to 49.9% of the 2019 levels. Russia ranked second with 203,000 visits, 1.6 times the number in the same period of 2019. Japan ranked third with 137,000 visits, recovering to 63.0% of the 2019 levels. Germany ranked fourth with 131,000 visits, recovering to 74.5% of the 2019 levels. Singapore ranked fifth with 125,000 visits, 20.2% higher than the same period in 2019. Malaysia ranked sixth with 118,000 visits, 84.9% higher than the same period in 2019. The ROK ranked seventh with 99,000 visits, recovering to 46.6% of the 2019 levels. The UK ranked eighth with 96,000 visits, recovering to 72.8% of the 2019 levels.
Foreign Tourists Show a Growing Preference for Immersive Tourism
Inbound tourism to China is showing a trend towards immersive travel arrangements with multiple destinations. Popular cities include Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu, Guilin, and Shanghai. In Beijing, tourists often stay for 3 nights and 4 days or 4 nights and 5 days. These tourists are no longer satisfied with just a cursory visit to traditional attractions. Instead, they are seeking cultural experiences, deeper engagement, and personalized services.
An increasing number of inbound tourists are shifting from pure sightseeing to immersive experiences and enriching cultural tours. Popular attractions for foreign tourists include the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Yonghe Temple, the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan), the Beijing Central Axis, the Universal Beijing Resort, the Beijing Olympic Park (Olympic Green), the 798 Art Zone, the Shougang Park, and the Gubei Water Town. According to relevant officials, the Beijing Public Transport Holdings, Ltd. (BPT) officially launched the “Beautiful Central Axis” sightseeing bus on August 17, offering three options of day tours, night tours, and customized tours. All services come with tour guides who provide detailed explanations about the destinations. To meet diverse travel preferences, a day tour plus meal package was introduced, allowing tourists to enjoy both scenery and Beijing cuisine during the day. Additionally, the shift for night tour plus meal package has been increased. With small square tables placed between the rows of seats offering a variety of Beijing delicacies, such as Lüdagun, hawthorn rolls, and roasted duck rolls, tourists are provided with a diverse taste of traditional Beijing flavors. As of October 16, the service has operated 649 bus trips with 17,297 passengers, with the total mileage extending 9,426 kilometers, generating 1.2119 million yuan in revenue.
Inbound tourists prefer luxury hotels that are well situated with convenient transportation, such as the Regent Beijing, the Jianguo Qianmen Beijing Hotel, the Tianlun Songhe Hotel, and the Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing.
Inbound tourists typically prefer goods such as tea, pearls, silk, traditional Chinese medicine, jade, and small electronic appliances. Popular shopping destinations include Xiushui Street, Beijing Hongqiao Market, commercial centers of Wangfujing, Qianmen, Guomao, Sanlitun, and SOLANA, as well as Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport.
There’s also a list of the favorite foods of inbound tourists. It’s reported that the main dishes they enjoy are Peking Duck, Beijing instant-boiled mutton, noodles with soybean paste, and Kung Pao Chicken. The most popular restaurants include Quanjude, Dong Lai Shun, and Siji Minfu.
As for the payment solutiong commonly used, statistics show that inbound tourists are accustomed to cash and bank cards, while the use of mobile payments such as WeChat Pay and Alipay is gradually increasing.
Tourists Fall in Love with Beijing for its Convenient Services
Beijing has launched a series of innovative services to provide convenience for inbound tourists, thus enhancing their travel experience. These services have been well-received by tourists.
Notably, Beijing has placed emphasis on providing comprehensive services for inbound tourists, including in areas of entry, transportation, accommodation, sightseeing, shopping, and payment, leading the country in eight aspects. A relevant official from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism summarized, “We were the first to create a municipal-level mechanism for promoting inbound tourism, the first to establish demonstration zones and centers for payment services at Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport, the first to issue the Implementation Plan for Further Optimizing Payment Services and Enhancing Payment Convenience at the provincial level, the first to provide banks with free passport information verification channels at the provincial level, the first to develop the ‘Inbound Consumer-Friendly Business District’ model at SOLANA, the first to set up more payment terminals in nine different scenarios, the first to enable tap-and-go subway fare payment with foreign bank cards, and the first to pilot the ‘Online Booking, Offline Pickup’ service for foreigners registering for SIM cards.”
Beijing became the first to allow for tap-and-go fare payment in rail transit for foreign card holders, another reason foreign visitors fall in love with the city. According to an official, the tap-and-go fare payment has been made available officially on Beijing’s urban rail transit system since September 13. The service recorded 809 transactions totaling RMB 7,548 on its first day of implementation, with bank cards from over 50 countries and regions being used. By October 13, the tap-and-go service has registered 19,000 transactions with Visa cards, totaling RMB 104,000, while Mastercards were used for 15,000 transactions, totaling RMB 84,000. Visa and Mastercard reported that bank cards from over 100 countries and regions have been used in Beijing’s subway stations, with Germany, the U.S., the UK, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia topping the list of bank card issuers.
The Beijing branch of China Mobile was the first in the country to introduce the “Online Booking, Offline Pickup” service with foreign passports. So far, 5,671 transactions have been handled for overseas visitors. Preliminary data shows that with this service, the average time to obtain a SIM card has been reduced by nearly 70%, greatly enhancing the experience and satisfaction of foreign tourists. Anne from the U.S. shared her experience: “I came to Beijing on a business trip with a group. The staff introduced us to the online booking service, which helped reduce our wait time. We connected to the airport’s WiFi and scanned a QR code for quick online booking. We then chose a number and plan, entered our names, uploaded a photo of the passport, and the booking is completed. When it was my turn to pick up the SIM card, it took less than 5 minutes.” Rahman from Saudi Arabia, who was traveling to China for the first time, also applied for a SIM card. “When I arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, I found the China Mobile store immediately and got my SIM card within 10 minutes.” He noted.
