Beginning March 15, the ministry of culture and tourism of China will lift the restriction on organized tours for Chinese citizens to Kazakhstan, QazMonitor reports.
The Chinese ministry released a statement saying the country's travel agencies will be able to resume organized group tours and Flight+Hotel services to its citizens on a trial basis to a select list of countries.
In addition to Kazakhstan, the list includes Nepal, Brunei, Vietnam, Mongolia, Iran, Jordan, Tanzania, Namibia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Serbia, Croatia, France, Greece, Spain, Iceland, Albania, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia, Vanuatu, Tonga, Samoa, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Panama, Dominica, El Salvador, and Bahamas.
According to the country's national statistics, Chinese tourists spent $127.5 billion abroad in the first half of 2019, including $14.9 billion in the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Overall, Asia accounted for the lion's share of Chinese tourists' spending – 54% of the total amount. The American continent came second with 24%, followed by Europe with 13%.
