Chinese visitors answer Africa's call of the wild

Tourists take a hot air balloon ride over Serengeti National Park in Tanzania in July. (CHINA DAILY)

Tourism experts are optimistic about the growth of China's outbound travel to Africa, fueled by deepening cooperation and Chinese travelers' emerging passion for exotic destinations.

Travel industry statistics for the recently completed summer holiday period, from early July to late August, showed positive results. Qunar, a travel portal, said that flight bookings from China to Africa for the period increased 1.2-fold year-on-year, with the top destinations being Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa.

Qunar said the diversity of natural landscapes and the variety of cultural and natural attractions, such as the majestic pyramids in Egypt and the great migration of animals, are enticing more Chinese tourists. Additional flights and more friendly visa policies have also increased the continent's attractiveness for Chinese visitors, it said.

Tanzania's breathtaking landscapes and extraordinary wildlife are still vivid in the mind of 35-year-old Sui Qing. A livestreaming anchor in Shanghai, Sui spent 10 days traveling through the East African country in late May with six friends.

Tourism experts are optimistic about the growth of China's outbound travel to Africa, fueled by deepening cooperation and Chinese travelers' emerging passion for exotic destinations.

Travel industry statistics for the recently completed summer holiday period from early July to late August showed positive results. Qunar, a travel portal, said that flight bookings from China to Africa for the period increased 1.2-fold year-on-year, with the top destinations being Egypt, Tanzania, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa.

Qunar said the diversity of natural landscapes and the variety of exotic cultural and natural attractions, such as the majestic pyramids in Egypt and the great migration of animals, are enticing more Chinese tourists. Additional flights and more friendly visa policies have also increased the continent's attractiveness for Chinese visitors, it said.

Tanzania's breathtaking landscapes and extraordinary wildlife are still vivid in the mind of 35-year-old Sui Qing. A livestreaming anchor in Shanghai, Sui spent 10 days traveling through the East African country in late May with six friends.

"Africa has been one of my dream travel destinations ever since I was a kid," she said. "I planned to go there when I was in college but failed to do so because I didn't save enough money.

"I've traveled to Russia, Spain, France, and many other European destinations after making a good living in recent years, and I decided to go to Africa to fulfill the wish of the younger me," she said.

Sui said most of the travel expenses went on the flights and accommodation, which came to about 50,000 yuan ($7,000) per person. "My friends and I booked a tailored group tour for our safety, and we all thought the trip was worth the money. We got very professional services both from the hotel staff and tour guides, who were kind and friendly to us Chinese people," she said.

"I saw many animals like lions, zebras, and elephants at very close range, and I wanted to cry when I saw these animals — how beautiful and amazing nature is."

Sui said the group traveled during a relatively slack tourism period in Tanzania, and the prices of flights and accommodation may have doubled for the great migration of animals, which started in June.

Chinese tourists are welcomed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, on Feb 11, 2023. (Photo/Xinhua)

Rich attractions

Africa has grown rapidly in popularity with the Chinese public over the past 15 years, thanks to deepening cooperation with China on the economy, education, and technology, experts and tourism industry insiders said. This has piqued the interest of more travelers from the mainland wanting to experience Africa in person, they added.

"China's outbound tourism to Africa started to scale upward around 2010 because of the addition of flights and optimized visa policies to the continent," said Yang Jinsong, director of the International Institute of the China Tourism Academy.

"Educational programs aired on some state-run channels popularizing knowledge about Africa and its landscape have also stimulated people's curiosity and yearning to travel there."

African countries' increased involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative for more than a decade has also burnished their reputation and popularity with Chinese people, which has benefited the continent's tourism industry.

Li Peng, who is in charge of long-distance tours for travel portal Tuniu, said Africa has attracted more adventurous young Chinese travelers in recent years. Middle-aged travelers with deep pockets and overseas travel experience used to be the main Chinese tourists to Africa.

Flights between China and Africa had been steadily increasing until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in late 2019.

"As tourism destinations have resumed operations in the post-epidemic era, so have the flights," said Li.

"So far, the number of nonstop flights between China and Africa has recovered to roughly 40 to 50 percent of the level in 2019. We've seen outbound tourism to the continent make a good recovery from November last year," he added.

In 2023, the number of overall international travelers to South Africa surged, according to official statistics from the country. Of those travelers, 37,000 were Chinese, marking a year-on-year rise of 205.5 percent.

Tanzania has also seen a jump in Chinese tourists from 34,000 in 2019 to 44,000 last year.

"Africa has abundant tourism resources — both natural and cultural," Li said.

"For example, northern Africa is rich in cultural relics and views like the pyramids in Egypt and the Sahara Desert. The eastern part of the continent is famous for its natural vistas and spectacular migrations of wild animals. Southern Africa has diversified landscapes including deserts, coastal views and grassland, offering Chinese travelers multiple cultural and nature experiences," he said.

Li said destinations including Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Namibia have gained in popularity with Chinese travelers in recent years thanks to popular TV programs.

Visitors from China pose for a photo in front of the Giza Pyramids in Giza, Egypt, in October. (Photo/Xinhua)

Improvements needed

Africa, however, still faces problems when it comes to safety and adequate tourism infrastructure and services. High on the list of concerns are not enough quality hotels, inadequate Wi-Fi coverage, and traffic problems.

"Safety is the most important issue for travelers," said Yang Jinsong, from the China Tourism Academy.

"The emergency response in some African countries whenever travelers encounter a dangerous situation still needs some effort to improve. Also, higher prices for flight tickets, accommodation, and short-range transport within the continent, may also hamper its tourism growth," he said, adding that language barriers caused by many African countries using French, may be an additional inconvenience for Chinese travelers.

However, Yang remains bullish on future tourism exchanges and cooperation between China and Africa.

"Many African countries, such as Mauritius and Morocco, have visa-free or visa-on-arrival policies for Chinese people, and the people there are very friendly and kind to Chinese people," he said, adding that deeper and closer cooperation on the economy, culture, and other sectors will consolidate the continent's attractiveness to Chinese people.

Yang is confident that travel costs from the Chinese mainland to Africa will drop in the near future due to the expansion of bilateral exchanges.

"Africa is a young continent with much greater economic potential yet to be fully tapped that is in the process of urbanization and industrialization," he said. "So, tourism products and services will see their costs decrease during the continent's development," Yang added.

African tourist destinations have also made greater efforts to win over more Chinese tourists by adding additional flights, organizing promotions, and optimizing visa policies to make it easier for Chinese travelers to access the continent, he said.

South Africa, for example, is planning to increase the number of return flights to the Chinese mainland from three times a week to one a day. It is also organizing exhibitions in several major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, to promote its attractions.

Hu Juanjuan, trade relations manager for South African Tourism, told a recent forum in Beijing that the number of Chinese travelers to South Africa had recovered to 60 percent of the pre-pandemic level. The country's tourism bureau has set a target of attracting over 50,000 Chinese tourists in the 2024-25 fiscal year, and hopes to get the number back to the 2019 level by 2026, Hu said.