Overseas travel agencies bullish on China's inbound tourism

Danish delight

The former visa policy was not making it easier for Danes to travel to China.

Denmark has more than 400 islands, with about 70 inhabited. In a complex procedure, some travelers had to drive from island to island to complete their China visa application. The cost of the visa was nearly 1,000 yuan ($137.50), Liu said.

With these restrictions removed, Liu said she is now going to "roll up her sleeves" to try and introduce more visitors to China. "The Danish people have some of the best paid vacations, which are a huge incentive for them to travel," she said.

Liu witnessed Danish travelers' enthusiasm for China when she first went to Denmark in the 1980s.

"I was working as a teacher at an adult education center then, and whenever I showed the students my pictures from China, they were intrigued and asked me if I could show them around one day," she recalled.

This inspired her to found her travel business in 1993.

Over the years, she has taken her Danish clients to major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an in Shaanxi province. All of them gave her positive feedback about their experiences, she said.

She later led trips to the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in the south and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, which were also well-received by the visitors.

"Most of them were blown away by what China has to offer, which was quite refreshing to them, very different from what they had read or heard back at home," she said.

Even during the pandemic, Liu said she was approached by many acquaintances who kept asking her when she was going to resume arranging trips to China.

This time, Liu brought several Danish colleagues on the China tour. They were all impressed by the Bund in Shanghai, and the folk customs, and urban and natural scenery in Fujian province, she said.

Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Denmark, and Liu said she is looking forward to playing a positive role in boosting bilateral exchanges by arranging more visits by Danish travelers and artists.