Relaxed visa policy spurs travel to Australia

Chinese travelers are expected to show greater interest in visiting Australia during the upcoming Spring Festival break, encouraged by the recent announcement of a 10-year multiple entry visa for tourists from China as well as the warm weather in the Southern Hemisphere, industry players said.

For the Lunar New Year holiday that runs from Jan 28 to Feb 4, Chinese tourists have already booked hotels in over 1,300 cities of 96 countries globally. Australia is one of the 10 most popular overseas destinations for Chinese tourists, according to data from Qunar, a Beijing-based online travel agency.

"China was the number one inbound tourist source market to Australia before the COVID-19 pandemic. At the moment, it is running second behind New Zealand in terms of the number of tourists visiting Australia," said Brian Tyson, chairman of SEC Newgate Australia, the country's largest full-service strategic communications firm.

"The recently announced 10-year multiple entry visa is going to have a significant impact on the tourism market," Tyson said.

Domestic carriers have introduced more flights or increased flight frequencies to satisfy growing demand from passengers. In mid-December, Shanghai-based private carrier Juneyao Air became the ninth Chinese airline to connect China with Australia after it launched flights between Shanghai and Sydney.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines launched flights earlier this month connecting Beijing Daxing International Airport with Sydney and Melbourne, becoming the first direct routes connecting Beijing Daxing and Australia. In December, China Southern also resumed flights between Guangzhou, Guangdong province and Adelaide.

In addition, Tyson said the company has observed a growing trend of Chinese travelers taking luxury trips in Australia, which include travelers taking part in activities such as helicopter rides, staying in high-end lodging and exploring remote areas like the island state of Tasmania.

With enhanced diplomatic relations between China and Australia in the past two years, the strong bilateral ties have played a positive role in promoting trade growth between the two countries.

China has been Australia's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years. In 2023, the bilateral trade value between the two countries reached a historic high of 1.61 trillion yuan ($220.5 billion), up 9.8 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Tyson said that the global economy is not as strong as it was, which has had a bit of an impact on investment appetite, but the company is still seeing strong investment demand from China.

"There has been a drop in mining and real estate. But the investment is still very strong in food and agriculture. I think it's about 40 percent of our deals done in the last financial year," he said.

"The Chinese economy has been extraordinarily remarkable, and it's remarkably resilient by getting through the pandemic. The key resources that China buys from Australia, like iron ore and others, are lower than they have been. But in terms of economic growth numbers, it is still higher than a lot of our other trading partners," Tyson said.

"So, we are optimistic and hopeful that the economic growth is strong and the miracle growth story of China continues," he added.