TEHRAN – Home to countless natural and historical spots including 26 UNESCO-registered sites, Iran seems to be one of the emerging popular destinations for Chinese tourists this summer.

Data compiled by some travel platforms suggest Iran and several other countries in West Asia and Africa have become the new favorite “unexpected names” on Chinese travelers' list of summer vacation destinations this year.

European countries remain among the main destinations chosen by most clients, but many have turned their interest to destinations that are not the usual favorites, Han Jie, head of CYTS Aoyou Travel Technology Development, told the Global Times on Monday.

In addition, some unexpected destinations appeared on the hot destination list, such as some Middle Eastern and African countries. These new hot destinations include Iran, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and the UAE, Han said.

Moreover, data from the online travel platform Tuniu demonstrate that since June, there has been a huge demand for visas for destinations including Singapore, Thailand, France, Malaysia, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Vietnam, Greece, and Russia, which are among the most popular overseas destinations in the summer.

Data by another online travel platform Trip.com shows a similar trend - just as Europe and other traditional popular destinations showed a trend to cool down, the Middle East and Africa market has become the summer outbound travel market “dark horse,” media outlet The Paper reported Monday.

The sources say the popularity of traveling to Egypt and the UAE exceeded in the same period in 2019, and the Egyptian route’s traffic has even doubled. Iran also was at the top of the list in terms of heat as a Chinese tourist destination in 2023, according to Trip.com.

“The main reason why tourists are exploring more ‘uncommon’ destinations is that outbound tourism has just resumed, and many of the tourists traveling abroad this year are experienced travelers,” Han told the Global Times. “They are more in need of fresh, niche destinations.”

Also, data obtained by Trip.com hints at other supporting elements. Average summer airfares from China to the Middle East and Africa have not changed much from the pre-pandemic period, and the number of flights is recovering well. In addition, visas for group travelers in Egypt and the UAE are easy to get.

As of July 11, the recovery of flights to the Middle East (West Asia) reached 70 percent of the same period in 2019; the recovery of flights to Africa reached 127 percent in the same period in 2019, the report said.

Over the past couple of years, Iran has made efforts to become a popular destination for Chinese nationals. “We should pay attention to the Chinese market in a more pragmatic approach,” Ali-Asghar Shalbafian, the deputy tourism minister, has said.

“So far, steps have been taken to examine the Chinese tourism market, but today the (essential) need is to implement executive measures based on [our] fault detection and macro planning,” the official explained.

Experts believe that insignificant numbers of Chinese restaurants, Chinese-language guides, or even inappropriate lodging facilities have been among the main reasons why Chinese arrivals in Iran fall short of expectations.

Tehran’s ex-ambassador to Beijing said Iran was seeking to become a tourist destination for millions of potential travelers from China as the two countries are working on a 25-year comprehensive cooperation plan that includes boosting relations in the field of tourism.

Speaking in the TV program, Mehdi Safari reminded some 200 million Chinese tourists to visit different countries annually, adding “According to this agreement Iran will become one of the tourist destinations for Chinese travelers so that Iran can attract one to two million Chinese tourists to the country.”

In 2019, the Islamic Republic waived the visa requirement for Chinese nationals willing to visit the country. The decision was made to attract more foreign tourists to the country; however, it was a unilateral measure, because Iranian tourists visiting China still need visas.

AFM