Back in 2024, Edith Cowan University professor Songshan “Sam” Huang wrote that more lenient visa policies would not play a role in bringing tourists back to China following the pandemic.

At the time, Huang declared: “Visa-free policies are a practical tool for facilitating tourist flows and trade exchanges between nations. China’s current visa-free policies are anticipated to incentivise more business and leisure travellers to visit China. Still, further efforts are necessary to rejuvenate China’s inbound tourism sector.”

Interestingly, the ITB China Travel Trends Report 2026-2027 previewed during this year’s run of ITB China revealed that leniency in issuing visas to amiable nations worked in the country’s favour, seeing how 30.8 million foreign travellers visited over the past year.

But Huang is correct: visa-free entry isn’t the only factor driving up the numbers of inbound travellers to China.

In which case, let us enumerate what these are and what Chinese tourism authorities can do moving forward.

Five points to ponder

In order to improve inbound tourist numbers from 2026 and beyond, China needs to address five significant issues:

The country’s digital reliance remains a challenge for foreigners

Several delegates to ITB China admitted to having trouble signing up for, logging into, and generally using the recommended digital payment platforms Alipay and WeChat, both of which are among a number of online payment solutions widely used throughout the country. 

Most of these were from western nations where such “super-apps” exist but continue to play second fiddle to both credit/debit cards and cash; it isn’t so much of a problem for Southeast Asians thanks to similar platforms like AirAsia MOVE and Grab. 

Nevertheless, China needs to guide newcomers in the use of such digital applications or, at the very least, ensure that alternative modes of payment are easily available

Communication is still a digital hurdle

While bilingual signage is readily seen in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai (and it can even get trilingual in Macao), you see less of it as you go further into the country, particularly in rural areas.

The same applies to retail and dining as many restaurants rarely offer menus in languages other than Mandarin and some do not even have the simple expedient of offering visuals for non-locals to consider.

Even in hotels operated by global hospitality management companies, finding someone who can competently communicate in English or a third language is rare.

Creating multilingual signage is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to solutions, as the best way forward from this is to offer extensive language training to local staff, as well as etiquette lessons to help make them more cordial to foreign guests.

Wrong narratives = backlash

Alas, global media and political propaganda have played their part in building this next stumbling block.

Over the years, negative narratives and geopolitical tensions, often driven by western media outfits, have shaped ideological barriers, leading to hesitancy and misconceptions about traveling to certain regions in China.

In which case, the government needs to counteract such propaganda or misguided storytelling with alternative imagery that puts the country’s best foot forward.

This particularly works for promoting cultural and adventure tourism, though it also presents China as a country focused on building a sustainable way of life for its people.

Evolving traveller preferences

As we reported a few days ago, traveller preferences in China these days are being driven by broadening personal tastes.

As such, there is a growing demand for independent, customized, and culturally immersive travel rather than traditional, large-group package tours. 

Consequently, this pressures travel agencies and travel advisors to provide highly specialized guides and off-the-beaten-path experiences.

From our point of view, the way forward from here is for travel professionals to work together with tourism boards on both national and provincial levels, as well as those in specialised industries like the cruise sector and luxury hospitality in order to formulate fresh offerings to pique the fickle interest of today’s tourists.

Higher costs all around

Finally, we come to a challenge that every country in the world is facing given the ongoing standoff in West Asia: rising operational and consumer costs.

The price of the average plane ticket has been driven up significantly by the higher price of crude oil on the global market, and operational costs for hotels, dining establishments, and attraction managers are rising fast.

Likewise, overall flight capacity in several areas in the west has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels, leading to extended travel times and elevated airfares.

For this, governments are already putting contingency measures in place; but for them and China, this is a matter of waiting to see how the overall situation unfolds.