China opens up to more destinations for outbound group tourism (updated)

AmorePacific Holdings

10/08/2023 05:12

(Includes previous approvals and share reaction from South
Korea)
    By Casey Hall and Joyce Lee
       BEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - China is resuming outbound
group tourism to destinations including Japan, South Korea,
Australia, the United States, Germany and Britain, its culture
and tourism ministry said on Thursday.
    The news cheered China's outbound travel operators, which
have struggled since 2020 with more than three years of
pandemic-induced border closures before China finally dropped
COVID-19 curbs late last year.
    "It's a milestone for the full resumption of the outbound
travel, and will also strongly push the resumption of
international flights, especially for Japan, Korea, the U.S.,"
said Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager at Spring Tour, the
travel arm of Shanghai-based Spring Group.
    In the first quarter, Chinese tourism agencies recorded
318,600 outbound trips, with Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau,
Singapore among the top destinations. Though outbound travel
only accounted for 1.58% of the overall tourism market in terms
of the number of people who travelled, official figures showed.
    The release of this third list of destinations for outbound
group tourism follows approvals in January and March this year.
The first batch included 20 countries such as Thailand, Russia,
Cuba and Argentina, while the second included 40 countries,
among them Nepal, France, Portugal, Brazil. 
    Shares in South Korean firms with large exposure to Chinese
travel demand jumped on the news.
    Two sources in South Korea's travel industry told Reuters it
was the first time group tours from China would be allowed since
its government unofficially limited the sale of group tour
products to South Korea following a 2016 dispute over the
deployment of a U.S. missile defence system. 
    China has never publicly acknowledged such a limit.
    Shares in casino operators Grand Korea Leisure  114090.KS 
and Paradise  034230.KQ  rose 21% and 17.4% respectively, as the
casinos cater to foreign visitors.
    Cosmetics firms such as AmorePacific Group  002790.KS  and
Cosmax  192820.KS  and retailers such as Shinsegae  004170.KS 
069960.KS> saw shares jump on hopes for increased sales to
Chinese travellers.

 (Reporting by Casey Hall in Shanghai; Joyce Lee in Seoul;
Sophie Yu in Beijing and Beijing newsroom; Editing by Jamie
Freed)
 ((Ella.Cao@thomsonreuters.com;))