China reopens borders, UAE travel companies hopeful for rise in Chinese tourists

Monday, January 9, 2023

With China easing restrictions at borders for the first time in three years since the start of Covid-19 pandemic from January 8, tourism companies in UAE are hopeful for a surge in visitor numbers from China. They are getting ready to welcome back Chinese tour groups who were absent for three years since the pandemic struck.

The travel companies are saying that the number of travellers from Asia’s leading economy is expected to spike exponentially after September 2023.

Gulf News quoted Vishwajith Das of Oriental Hope Tourism and Travel as saying that a handful of business and leisure travellers in China, including those who wanted to meet their families, have booked tickets to the UAE. But, a huge surge in bookings from China from large tour groups is not visible as of now. “We are confident activity will pick up in March this year,” said Das.

Das attributes the reasons for the slow start to tourist activity to the initial uncertainty, exorbitant airfares and lack of affordable direct flights which connect both countries.

“There are limited forward bookings for China-UAE flights as well. But return economy airfares are priced at Dh6,000 and above. Travellers are waiting for fares to come down,” Gulf News quoted a travel agent as saying.

A direct Air China flight departing from Beijing on January 19 and returning on January 27 costs Dh6,095. An Etihad Airways direct flight from Beijing to Abu Dhabi is priced at Dh4,165 for the same dates.

Connecting flights are relatively cheaper. Egypt Air operates a flight from Guangzhou to Sharjah with a layover in Cairo. Airfares on this route are at Dh3,782. However, this flight has a wait time of 14 hours and 45 minutes in Egypt.

Airfares taper down from Dh4,165 and Dh6,095 to Dh2,844 to Dh3,681 in the first week of March (for a flight from Shanghai to Dubai). However, very few carriers are yet to provide a direct service, Gulf News reported.

Flag carriers Emirates and Etihad have announced plans to increase their operations between UAE and China in the coming months. That should ease connectivity and boost demand.

Almost 17 million visitors toured Dubai in 2019, with Chinese visitors making up 990,000 of that number ― an increase of nearly 15 per cent over the previous year. However, the past three years have been tough for companies operating in the Chinese market due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

“In 2019, we had two large groups of Chinese travellers coming into the UAE almost every day during the peak season, which is from September to March,” said Das. The group size of Chinese tourists ranges from 10 to 30 travellers. They stay for four to eight days, he said.

“Business has been slow since 2020. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Chinese tourists,” he said.
Rashid Abbas, Managing Director of Arooha Travels, said, “Chinese travellers have visa on arrival for 30 days, and that makes UAE a desirable destination for them. The leisure travel industry will pick up in demand. However, I predict it will take some time.”

« Back to Page