Chinese travellers have been increasingly venturing far out of the country. — China Daily
BEIJING: Chinese outbound tourists have shown growing enthusiasm for visiting museums overseas, and some of the most popular destinations include the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Erawan Museum in Bangkok, industry players have found.
Some other international museums sought after by Chinese travellers include the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the British Museum, the Prado Museum in Madrid, Al Shindagha in Dubai, the National Museum of Luang Prabang in Laos and the National Museums of Kenya, according to Tuniu, a Nanjing, Jiangsu province-based online travel agency.
Chinese travellers have been increasingly venturing far out of the country, heading to some niche destinations such as Serbia, Morocco and Tunisia, fuelled by more flight options and favourable visa policies of different countries.
“Visiting a museum can help travellers learn about the history of a city. Chinese consumers have indicated an increasingly strong interest in visiting museums, which serve as important places of cultural inheritance,” said Xiao Peng, a researcher with the big data research institute of Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.
During the May Day holiday that lasted from May 1 to May 5, the booking volumes of international flights and hotels on the platform both hit new highs, according to Qunar.
In particular, booking volumes of flight tickets from China to Saudi Arabia and Egypt more than tripled year-on-year, and booking volumes of flights to the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye and Qatar jumped over 50% on a yearly basis, Qunar found.
Despite being affected by regional turbulence to some extent, the tourism industry in the Middle East has shown good growth momentum in the past year, becoming one of the fastest-growing regions in the world, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. — China Daily/ANN
