72小时免签证政策效果不佳

The 72-hour visa-free policy started to take effect from the beginning of this year in the capital city first. It allows tourists from 45 countries to stay in Beijing for three days without a visa. Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Chongqing joined in later.

Dalian has now become the latest Chinese city to offer 72 hours of visa-free travel to international tourists.

The coastal city, in the northeast province of Liaoning, will now allow passengers transiting through Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport to stay in the city for three days without obtaining a visa prior to arrival, as long as they have an onward ticket for a flight to a third destination, departing within 72 hours of their arrival.

The scheme is available to citizens from 45 countries, including all EU member states, the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brunei, Russia, Ukraine, Qatar and the UAE.

Dalian is a popular tourist destination in China, due to its mild climate and numerous beaches.

At the beginning of the year, the Beijing tourism administration, together with industry experts, estimated that the policy may attract 100 to 200 thousand foreign tourists to visit Beijing.

However, figures from the authorities show that by October 14, only 10 thousand foreigners applied for the 72-hour visa-free transit. The figure in Shanghai is about the same.

Zou Tongxuan, a professor from the Institute of Tourism at the Beijing Second Foreign Language Institute says that relevant parties should carry out more promotions to make foreign passengers aware of the 72-hour visa-free policy before they plan their trip.

"The main issue is that many people don't know about it. How can they make a purchase if they don't know that such a product exists? Besides the travel agencies, the government and airline companies should play a more active role in the promotion work."

Additionally, Li Chunfang, Business Development manager of Capital Airport Company says that time and the limited travel area is also hedging passengers with a transit visa to travel in the 6 cities.

"We talked to some passengers who make use of the 72 hour visa free policy. They say that 72 hours is too short. They say they can only stay in the city for 2 days. Some tourists have expressed that Beijing would be a more appealing destination if the visa free time period could be extended. So I just think that if the visa free period could be extended to 7 days, Beijing could attract more travelers."

Zou Tongxuan says that as long as the supplementary policies and services are available, the time period can be extended.

"The key is whether the administrative departments can increase their efficiency in terms of security management. If the visa-free permission area could be extended to the neighboring areas of Beijing, the surrounding provinces and areas would also benefit from the visa-free policy."

Meanwhile, Zou Tongxuan adds that the 72 hour visa-free policy would be effective if there was closer coordination between the airline companies and tourism administration departments.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.