Middle East has become the first region to recover Chinese tourism numbers as the world attempts to recover the inbound market from China, according to the latest research.
Oxford Economics revealed that outbound travel from China is expected to double in 2023 with full recovery expected to materialise by 2025, led by numbers from the Middle East region.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) is set to take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from May 6-9 and aims to welcome doubled numbers of Chinese exhibitors and travel professionals as compared to the pre-pandemic edition in 2019.
Earlier this year, China lifted its pandemic-related travel restrictions, allowing for international travel without quarantine. During Chinese New Year, travel from the country soared by over 500 percent.
Danielle Curtis, Exhibition Director ME, Arabian Travel Market, said: “Last year, some analysts were predicting that the Chinese outbound market would recover to around six million per month by the summer of 2023, driven in part by the pent-up demand especially from young, affluent Chinese.
“However, that rebound wasn’t as great as many tourism professionals had hoped for and now analysts are confident that this year, we could see Chinese visitor numbers double year-on-year, with major destinations in the Middle East recovering quicker than any other internationally, especially for luxury travel,” he added.
Companies expected this year at the Arabian Travel Market include Heytrip International, Jiangsu Intelligence Equipment Co, Flightroutes24 Travel Company Ltd, Feeyo Technology, Macao Government Tourism Office, China Cultural Centre in the UAE and the Hongkong Tourism Board.
“The most popular Middle East destinations include Dubai, Saudi’s AlUla, Egypt and Jordan – Dubai alone welcomed more than one million Chinese visitors in 2019,” said Curtis.
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