‘144-hour visa-free transit’ booming the tide of inbound tourism in Henan

Henan Daily

Zhengzhou: Since July 15, Zhengzhou Aviation Port has implemented a 144-hour transit visa-free policy for 54 countries, and the stay permit with a stay area is the administrative region of Henan Province. In the last two months, waves of foreign tourists came to Henan with this “visiting card”, setting off a tide of Henan Travel.

In order to further create an impressive “city Henan” trip for foreign tourists, Henan recently issued the “Henan Province Implementation of the 144-hour Transit Visa-free Policy for Foreigners”, taking a series of measures for travel security.

Such as the seamless customs clearance, convenient payment, creating international consumption scenes, providing special tourist routes, etc…

The 144-hour visa-free entry that fascinates foreign tourists has been opening a door to multicultural integration and has become a stunning name card for Henan to go global.

Since July 15, the 144-hour transit visa-free policy has given Henan a “full score”. Henan’s inbound tourism orders have increased significantly with an increasing number of foreign tourists arriving at Henan.

According to Ctrip data, the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, as the first statutory holiday after the “144-hour transit visa-free” landing at Zhengzhou, has seen Henan inbound travel orders increasing by 110% year-on-year, with Zhengzhou, Luoyang, and Kaifeng inbound travel orders increasing by 129%, 109% and 60% respectively year-on-year. The top 10 countries for inbound tourism in Henan during the Mid-Autumn Festival are South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Germany, and Canada.

According to the statistics of Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone in Henan Province, in the first seven months of this year, Zhengzhou Airport resumed five passenger routes from Bangkok to Zhengzhou and Kuala Lumpur to Zhengzhou, with international passenger routes reaching 15; international passenger flights exceeded 3,000, an increase of 236.6% over the same period last year; and the number of passenger entry and exit personnel was nearly 490,000, an increase of 256.4% over the same period last year.

“This policy takes a very significant effect on inbound tourism,” said Wang Yalei, a senior researcher at the Strategic Research Center of Ctrip Research Institute. In Henan, as a major tourism province, the increasing inbound tourism market will also become a highlight of the tourism market this year.

Culture is the most attractive name card of Henan, such as the Central Plains culture, the Yellow River culture, the root culture and the red culture have all left precious imprints here. Besides, Shaolin Kung Fu, Taijiquan and other Henan elements have also gone viral overseas, which has become the attractions for foreigners to fall in love with Henan.

Du Jiangfeng, manager of the entry center of Henan Kanghui International Travel Service, told the top news reporter that Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes and other places, with a huge flow IP, are the most attractive places that foreign tourists have learned from their own countries. The foreign tourists have a natural yearning for Shaolin KungFu and curiosities about Henan, once a “less-known” province for inbound tours. And this time, foreign tourists did not intend to miss this rare opportunity brought by the visa-free “visiting card”. The 144-hour, 6-day itinerary was fully arranged.

Among the five route products launched by Henan Kanghui International Travel Agency, the “Meet with Henan, Land of Mystery”, compared with the 5-day, 4-night and 4-day, 3-night trips, the 6-day and 5-night “Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Yuntai Mountain, Linzhou, Anyang” route is more welcomed by tourists. Ancient city walks, cultural exploration, special food, and folk customs experience…none of them was missed. After fully appreciating the history, culture and natural scenery of Henan during the trip, it can be said that “normal foreigners” have turned to be “totally invigorated”.

“It’s amazing here! Everything is so beautiful; it’s incredible.” Samuel from Germany yearned for Shaolin Kung Fu. On his first field trip, he was amazed by the scenery of Shaolin Temple. He told the top news reporter that his great grandfather was a Kung Fu master, so he was also learning Chinese Kung Fu.

In face of the increasing foreign tourists, both the government and the travel agencies are considering how to “arouse the longing” from the bottom of their hearts for a trip to Henan.

According to the official in charge of the Foreign Exchange and Cooperation Office of the Henan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Henan Province is designing and producing a multilingual travel guide manual, sorting out the white list of inbound tourism enterprises of the Henan Museum, and providing reservation facilitation services for inbound tourists.

Meanwhile, the government is promoting the tourism construction on different aspects, such as the building of scenic spots above the national 4A-level, resorts above provincial level, hotels above three-star level, national tourism and leisure blocks and night tourism consumption gathering areas, national first-class museums, art galleries, theaters and key rural tourism villages, etc. Some foreign exchange sites in key areas are to planned to be set up to facilitate inbound tourism payment and facilitate inbound tourists consumption in Henan.

For the implementation of the policy, Zhengzhou Airport has opened an overseas guest payment service center at the end of April this year; Zhengzhou Entry-Exit Border Inspection Station will set up a specialized 144-hour transit visa-free processing area and channel at the entry and exit site to optimize the entry and clearance process for foreigners.

Data show that in the first half of 2024, Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport served a total of 373,000 international and regional passengers, an increase of 296% over the same period last year, and opened 16 international and regional routes.

At present, the intelligent health quarantine channel at the customs clearance site has been upgraded, with dynamic infrared temperature measurement and intelligent sampling interception functions. The average customs clearance time for passengers has been reduced by more than 30%, realizing “seamless customs clearance”.

Previously, citizens of 54 countries including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom needed to apply for visas at Chinese embassies and consulates abroad in advance to visit Henan Province. Apart from spending different amounts of visa fees, they also had to set aside a few days to apply for visas.But now you don’t need to apply in advance. Just buy a flight ticket to Zhengzhou airport, take your passport to the application window, and you can get the stamp of “visa-free transit” seal without spending a penny in 3 minutes. Then just enjoy the happy time of “visiting and eating in Henan” for 6 days.

“We have added tourism products from 1-day to 6-day tours, including traditional world cultural heritage, four ancient capitals, natural scenery and cultural content, as well as fashionable city walks, art performances, night tours and experience products,” said Cui Zhan, deputy general manager of Henan Zhongyouxin International Travel Service Co., Ltd. In order to meet the different needs of international guests, they have adjusted and upgraded many items, including product types, geographical diversity, resource procurement, as well as tour guide service training.

Du Jiangfeng said that Henan Kanghui International Travel Service is making great efforts to strengthen the cultivation and training of tour guides of minor languages. “Receiving foreigners from all over the world for inbound tours actually has extremely high requirements for tour guides.It is necessary to make reasonable arrangements for the guests’ itinerary, properly handle the various problems they may encounter, and pay attention to their psychological state in a foreign country. It is not just as simple as scenic spotexplanation.”

Zhang Xiangyu, President of Henan Provincial Institute of Culture and Tourism Planning, pointed out that we should build new landmark cultural tourism projects and fashion tourism products which are unique and world-leading from a high starting point, plan and design public service facilities for urban tourism and resort with high standards, especially foreign language guidance system and service equipment, and plan overseas publicity and promotion work with high quality, so as to improve the international popularity of “Walking in Henan · Understanding China” cultural tourism brand.

As the first choice and first stop for many inbound tourists, Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes and other popular attractions familiar to foreign tourists are called the “fresh village” of inbound tours in Henan.

The manager of Dengfeng Tourism Service Center told the reporter that after the implementation of the 144-hour transit visa-free policy, the Shaolin Temple has focused on multiple fields such as play and consumption, and launched a number of facilitation measures.

For example, they have made preferential policies aiming at foreign tourists. Inbound tourists can enjoy preferential treatment for visits, performances and accommodation in Shaolin Temple, and enjoy food discounts with tickets to Shaolin scenic spots. On the basis of the inclusive policy, those over 60 years old and specific children can visit 8 of 11 world cultural heritage sites in Dengfeng, inbound tourists from 6 international friendly cities can enjoy discounts of delicious food and some scenic spots on the basis of the preferential policies.

In the Longmen Grottoes, there are also a series of measures to facilitate inbound tourists. The scenic area is equipped with intelligent voice guide equipment with artificial foreign language explanation and free English explanation service. Even without a tour guide, foreign tourists can learn more about the historical and artistic value of each Buddha statue and each cave during the visit.

In order to facilitate the tour experience of foreign tourists, a number of rest areas are also set up in the scenic area, equipped with international charging facilities, which is convenient for tourists to charge mobile phones, cameras and other electronic devices.Besides, the medical emergency services are provided to ensure the safety and comfort of tourists during the tour.

In July, 29 Internet celebrities from 24 countries visited the Longmen Grottoes, and many of them expressed their surprise and admiration, “Look! This is one of the largest Buddha statues in the world!”,when seeing the Lushana Buddha for the first time.

At the end of the trip, foreign Internet celebrities also dressed up in Han-style clothing and joined the crowd to watch the brilliant performances and enjoy the dazzling intangible cultural heritage.They took photos with Chinese tourists and took out their mobile phones to introduce Luoyang to foreign fans. Words such as “beautiful”, “amazing”, “love” and “reluctant to leave” popped out of their mouths from time to time.

Distance never matters for a knowing friend, even tenthousand miles apart we can still be neighbors.How can 144 hours be enough to visit such a great Henan?Out of the 144-hour “fresh village”, the 145th hour in Henan is still to be open globally.