After China’s recent decision to remove visa requirements for Australian citizens, they have shown increased enthusiasm for visiting the country.

Following the announcement released on June 10, for half an hour, the search popularity of Australian domestic tourism on many online travel platforms increased significantly, thus witnessing more than 80 percent of search volumes of keywords related to China, VisaGuide.World reports.

The 15-day visa-free travel for Australians was announced by Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who also said that this change would save Australians about $110, the current cost for a single-entry tourist visa.

Demand for Air Tickets From China to Australia Increased by Over  40% Compared to May 2024

As a Beijing-based online travel agency, Qunar revealed that compared to the level recorded last month, the search volume for flight tickets from China to Australia jumped more than 40 percent. Meanwhile, the number of flights from Australia to China has surged by over 220 percent year-on-year.

Since the beginning of this year, travel between the two countries has been growing in popularity due to new flights and increased frequencies connecting China and Australia.

As important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, China and Australia show high economic complementarity and boast enormous potential for further cooperation. Next, we aim to achieve stronger cooperation momentum in the tourism sector.

During the same period, Australia has ranked as the fifth-largest source country for the number of inbound tourists to China this year, and orders for inbound tourism service products have grown by 155 percent year-on-year.

As Qin Jing explained, the new policy will also benefit more than one million overseas Chinese living in Australia, making it easier to return to China to visit relatives or travel easier and smoother.

Implementing the unilateral visa-free policy will accelerate tourism exchanges and economic and trade cooperation between China and Australia. The visa-free policy will also benefit over a million Chinese living in Australia, making it more convenient and smooth for family visits and travel to China.

Most Popular Destinations for Australian Tourists Entering China

Based on Ctrip data, the average price of flight tickets from Australia to China declined by nearly 30 percent this summer compared to the same period in 2023.

However, the same source also pointed out that the most popular destinations in China that Australians choose to visit are as follows:

• Shanghai
• Beijing
• Guangzhou
• Shenzhen
• Chengdu
• Sichuan
• Hangzhou
• Zhejiang