China’s pandemic-induced shutdown has massively weakened the international tourism industry. The inclusion of Austria on the Chinese list of countries allowed for organized group travel is an important step for Austrian tourism.
China, as an important international origin market, represents an enormous potential for domestic tourism for Austrian Leading Sights. China’s pandemic shutdown has left serious marks on the tourism and leisure industry. The turnaround of China’s COVID policy in early December 2022, which was accompanied by a relaxation of many regulations, could have allowed domestic tourism to breathe a sigh of relief. However, despite turning away from the zero COVID strategy, a recovery after pandemic-related downtime had not materialized. The reason: Austria was not listed on the Chinese list of countries permitted for organized group travel.
In order to point out and emphasize the fact of the considerable absence of visitor groups in many sights and the resulting competitive disadvantage compared to listed countries, Austrian Leading Sights formulated a letter to the government at the beginning of July. The letter demanded the implementation of diplomatic measures to put Austria on said list and thus enable organized group tours from China to Austria.
Now the efforts pay off. As of now, national travel agencies and online travel companies are resuming organized foreign trips for Chinese citizens to Austria. This measure represents an economically important step for the Austrian tourism industry and allows a confident look into the next season, in which Austria can again unfold its full potential as a destination for Chinese tourists.
We would like to thank the Austrian Federal Government, which quickly took up our demands for diplomatic measures to support the tourism industry.
Inquiries and contact:
Head of Public Affairs & Communication
Mag. (FH) Florian Felder
f.felder@austrianleadingsights.at
+43 664 52 08 967
