(Yicai) July 21 -- Chinese regions are stepping up tourism promotion efforts in the UK as they seek to attract more British visitors, with visa-free policies and expanded flight capacity making travel to China increasingly convenient.

Yicai recently attended one such event in London hosted by eastern Anhui province which showcased the region’s iconic Huangshan Mountain sea of clouds, historic Huizhou villages and traditional tea art performances to British travel industry professionals.

China began offering a 30-day visa-free policy for holders of ordinary British passports on Feb. 17, Zhang Li, director of the China National Tourist Office in London, told Yicai. In March alone, 18,000 UK passport holders traveled to Beijing. According to insights from travel agencies, the number of British tourists visiting China is likely to increase significantly next year from that level.

UK residents have a long tradition of outbound travel, and when choosing long-haul destinations in Asia, including China, their top consideration is cultural experiences, said Zhang. First-time visitors to China typically choose major cities such as Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. However, as their interest in Chinese culture grows, they are likely to explore inland provinces such as Anhui and Henan to discover a wider range of cultural and tourism resources.

Air China, the largest carrier on China-UK routes, has seen capacity on its China-UK flight routes recover to 143 percent of pre-pandemic levels, said Xia Baohui, general manager of Air China's London office. The airline operates 43 flights a week between China and the UK, with a market share of about 30 percent. It connects London with destinations including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu.

China Eastern Airlines is also expanding its services. The airline's China-UK route capacity increased by approximately 20 percent last year compared to pre-pandemic levels, said Huang Lei, general manager of the Shanghai-based airline's London office. From Aug. 1 to Oct. 10, the carrier will add another daily flight between London Gatwick Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport, bringing the total to four flights a day and increasing capacity by around 15 percent year on year.

Zhangjiajie is a top-tier scenic area in China but is not well-known in the UK and is mainly visited by backpackers, said Wendy Wu, chairman of travel agency Wendy Wu Tours. However, now that travel companies, including her own, have started to organize tours to Zhangjiajie, the number of high-end travellers has more than quintupled.

The biggest challenge in promoting lesser-known Chinese destinations to Western markets is that foreign tourists are still unfamiliar with these places, Wu said. At the same time, this gives Chinese destinations a strong motivation to market themselves overseas.

“The best thing about China is that it has incredibly rich tourism resources,” Jack Brown, international cooperation manager at British travel media Wanderlust Travel Media, told Yicai. “Beijing has the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace, while Xi'an is home to the Terracotta Army. As media coverage increases, each province will have a distinctive attraction recognized by the British public. It is just a matter of time.”

In the first half, the number of inbound foreign visitors surged 20.4 percent from a year ago to 22.9 million people, according to data released earlier this month by the National Immigration Administration of China. Of this, visa-free entries accounted for 77.7 percent of foreign arrivals, or 17.8 million overseas visitors, representing a 30.6 percent jump from the year before.

Editor: Kim Taylor