China authorizes group tourism trips to Peru and 70 other countries

China This Thursday lifted the ban for its citizens to make group trips to more than 70 countries, including several in Latin America, a restriction that had been in force since the health crisis.

The Asian giant had already lifted the ban on organized trips to several countries such as Argentina and Cuba in January 2023, or to Brazil, Chile, Uruguay in March 2023.

Authorities have now added more countries to the list, including the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Several European, Asian and African countries are also listed.

The decision “has played a positive role in promoting tourism exchanges and cooperation”, celebrated the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism after the publication of the new list.

Canadawhich maintains tense relations with Chinais not on the list.

China it closed its borders in 2020 to protect itself from COVID-19 and imposed long and expensive quarantines on people arriving in the country.

For three years, the authorities banned Chinese from traveling abroad, except in exceptional cases.

But this restriction was lifted at the beginning of the year and since then, Chinese tourists traveling individually can go to any destination.

Before the pandemic, China was the country that sent the most tourists abroad, with about 155 million registered departures in 2019, according to the consultancy McKinsey.

In March, China resumed issuing visas to foreign tourists. But arrivals in the Asian country barely represent a small part of the levels registered before the pandemic.

Source: AFP