“In the years before Covid, China was the world’s most important source of international travellers. Its 155 million tourists spent more than a quarter of a trillion dollars beyond its borders in 2019” (He 2023).

According to European Travel Commission “Over the course of 2018, the top three EU destinations in terms of volume of Chinese arrivals were the UK (+2.4%), Germany (+2.6%) and France (+7.7%). The three most growing destinations were Croatia (+45.7%), Estonia (+35.8%) and Hungary (+25.1%). Forward bookings also look robust. Chinese bookings to the EU for the first four months of 2019 are 16.9% ahead of where they were at the end of 2017. This compares very favourably to the global trend,

which is 9.3% ahead.” (ETC 2019)

The following table (ETC 2019) illustrates the top 3 European destinations by sub-region for 2018.

Zero-Covid policy was the main reason why Chinese people decided to stay instead of travelling abroad for almost three years. But after so long period of isolation Chinese tourists are more than ready to return.

According to the latest reports Chinese tourists will return to Europe in 2023. CNN Business confirms that After China announced it would no longer subject inbound travelers to quarantine starting January 8, including residents returning from trips abroad, searches for international flights and accommodations immediately hit a three-year high on Trip.com (He 2023).