From 3 to 6 days to 10 days, the visa free transit policy has been further upgraded!

CCTV news: On December 17, the National Immigration Administration released a notice that from that day on, it will comprehensively relax and optimize the transit visa free policy, and extend the stay time of transit visa free foreigners in China from 72 hours and 144 hours to 240 hours (10 days). At the same time, 21 new ports will be added as entry and exit ports for transit visa free people, and further expand the stay area. What adjustments have been made to the announcement? What impact and changes will it bring

How to achieve "smooth travel" across regions

The biggest feature of this policy adjustment is allowing cross regional traffic. What issues need to be addressed and resolved after the adjustment, and how can various services achieve "smooth travel"

Dai Bin, President of China Tourism Research Institute: I think there are three issues that need further attention and resolution

Firstly, how to purchase international travel documents for transportation such as air, rail, subway, and public transportation. Nowadays, we often use online ticket booking. After booking the tickets, when entering the station, we swipe our ID card or even our face. However, when we use foreign travel passports, whether our machines are compatible is a big issue

Second, payment. When buying tickets online, foreigners have become accustomed to using electronic payment or some Internet payment methods. Although we have taken some measures, such as swiping cards in large amounts, scanning codes in small amounts, and providing cash, foreigners still face some payment problems

Third, language barriers or problems. Not every foreigner who enters the country can speak Chinese, and not every Chinese service staff can speak English or a specific language. Although some problems can be solved on the machine, I think there are still some communication barriers. How to break through the barriers of identification, payment, and language is the next key issue we need to focus on solving

How can resources be transformed into products to handle transit visa free traffic?

How should travel products be designed to accommodate transit foreign tourists in various regions?? How can second - and third tier cities that have not received foreign tourists prepare accordingly

Dai Bin: This is precisely the issue that our current cultural and tourism departments are focusing on, and we will pay attention to it from three aspects

Firstly, how resources can be transformed into products. We have many famous mountains and rivers, natural resources such as mountains, waters, forests, fields, lakes, grasses, and sands, as well as many historical and cultural resources. However, we still need to put in more effort to enable tourists to enter these spaces and turn them into tourist products that can be purchased

Secondly, how can culture be transformed into an experiential experience? We have a long history and culture, revolutionary culture that carries the red gene, and advanced socialist culture. How to enable foreign tourists to experience it is something we need to pay attention to

Thirdly, the government is very active in promoting it, but hotels, homestays, scenic spots, vacation areas, shopping places, etc. require further attention from us

How to make transit foreign tourists have fun eating and shopping

How can various regions enable transit foreign tourists to have "characteristic tours" and "in-depth tours" with richer experiences, and how can they make foreign tourists "not want to leave when they come" and "want to leave when they leave"

Dai Bin: Firstly, starting from demand, develop products that are more suitable for foreign tourists entering the country to consume. For example, do foreigners come to China only to see natural landscapes? Is it just a Citywalk for a city? Do they want to taste Chinese cuisine, buy some advanced and affordable products from China? How can we make foreign tourists aware of the information about these products? Our promotional methods and approaches need to be innovative

Secondly, the improvement of service quality. Nowadays, many of our ports, including shopping at airports, shopping malls, and duty-free shops, can still be quite awkward at times. In terms of shopping, business psychology, and service psychology, more international integration is needed to make people willing to buy, rather than rigidly promoting. After purchasing goods, there is also the convenience of logistics. After buying things from overseas companies, there is a specialized tax refund company service. Now Shenzhen has opened the first tax refund service point. There are also some bulk commodities or alcoholic beverages that cannot be carried because there is another journey, so the corresponding logistics system should also keep up at this time