Easy service for foreigners at Guangzhou airport

A service center for foreign nationals opened at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on Thursday in Guangdong province.

The center — International Service Guangzhou — uses an integrated "one-counter, all-services" model to enhance the experience of travelers and boost Guangzhou's international image of openness, inclusiveness, efficiency and friendliness, a statement released by the airport said.

Located in the airport's International Arrival Hall in Terminal 2, the center provides core functions most needed by foreigners upon entry — setting up payments, communications and transportation, as well as offering cultural tourism opportunities. Travel needs are fully covered, including food, accommodations, shopping and leisure, the statement said.

The center provides ATMs for convenient cash withdrawals. Staff members promote the use of domestic mobile payment tools among foreign passengers to help with purchases. It even has intelligent robots to guide visitors and answer questions.

Meanwhile airport authority has collaborated with domestic translation teams to customize airport translation machines with real-time capabilities in more than 140 languages — helping to lower language barriers for foreign tourists.

With the ongoing China travel boom and increasing people-to-people exchanges between China and foreign countries, the number of passengers entering and exiting the country at Baiyun International Airport is expanding. To meet the growing regional demand, 18 regular passenger routes have been added or resumed, and two new international destinations have joined the lineup, the airport said.

Five new international airlines have made the airport their base. Approximately 75 international passenger routes and 46 international cargo routes operate weekly, making it one of the busiest airports in the country.