Outbound tourism on the road to recovery

Paul Pruangkarn, chief of staff at the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said Chinese tourists are an essential part of global tourism.

The resumption of China's outbound travel is injecting strong impetus into tourism in the Asia-Pacific region and into the recovery of the global economy, he said.

Destination countries such as Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia have extended warm hospitality to first arrivals from China.

"We are extremely delighted to receive these first tour groups today, and look forward to more Chinese tourists coming back to Thailand," Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said at a welcoming ceremony held in Bangkok on Monday.

TAT predicted that Thailand will receive 7 million tourists from China this year, roughly 63 percent of the pre-epidemic level in 2019.

However, outbound tourism is still at the preliminary stage of recovery, said Sun Guizhen, secretary-general of the China Association of Travel Services, adding that major constraints include the limited number of international flights, high costs and inadequate hoteliers.

Industry insiders said that it requires the joint efforts of regulators, business entities, employees and tourists to achieve a full recovery. Some travel service providers therefore are re-collecting resources and conducting training to remedy the industrial chain.

So far, Ctrip.com has launched nearly 1,200 outbound tour packages. Tuniu offered 400 overseas trip products on its platform, most of which are for small-scale tour groups.

The outbound travel market is set to see a more apparent boom during this year's May Day holiday, experts predicted.