CRI听力:Chinese Growing Demand for Overseas Travel Prompts Further Lifting of Visa Restrictions

Overseas travel has become more popular among the Chinese over the last few years. At the same time, many countries have eased restrictions for Chinese tourists to travel in their countries. Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced earlier this month that it will relax the restrictions for Chinese to obtain tourist visas on July 1st. What attracts Chinese tourists to foreign travel? And why are more countries open to Chinese tourists? Our reporter Zhang Cheng has the details.

Shi Qing, Public Relations Manager of China International Travel Service, says more Chinese are choosing to travel abroad nowadays.

"Overseas travel has developed quickly in the last one or two decades. It has maintained an annual growth rate in the double digits from nearly 4 million in the early 1990s to 50 million last year. There were only five countries and regions open to China as tourist destinations in the early 1990s. The number has now increased by almost 30 times."

Shi Qing attributes the increase largely to the fast development of the Chinese economy. In the meantime, Yang Xiaolan, Director of Beltoursim International Cousulting Group, says there are also some other reasons.

"Experiencing a different cultural atmosphere is attractive for Chinese people. As transportation is becoming more convenient, people will consider traveling abroad for the same cost. What's more, some sectors of China's tourism industry such as rural tours and seaside tours have not reached international standards, so people tend to travel abroad."

Guo Chunling, Manager of Japan National Tourism Organization in Beijing says that it is because of the growing demand that Japan is relaxing its entry restrictions for individual Chinese tourists.

"The number of Chinese tourists traveling to Japan has been growing soundly and stably since 2000 when Japan opened its tourism to China. Even in 2009 when the international economic environment was not so good, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan also maintained positive growth. Therefore, there is a great demand for travel to Japan among Chinese tourists."

Guo Chunling adds that Chinese tourists are keen on shopping in Japan, which impresses local people the most.

Latest statistics from the World Tourism Organization shows that China has now become the fourth largest consumer of tourism consumption, following Germany, the United States and Britain.

For CRI, I'm Zhang Cheng.