Guangdong Government announced on 23rd that from August 1st onwards, Baiyun International Airport would open a 72 hours transit visa-free opportunity to tourists from 45 countries which belong to Europe, America, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand regions, which makes it the third city in China to apply this policy after Beijing and Shanghai.
GUANGZHOU – According to the policy, residents coming from those 45 countries that hold joint tickets and visa to a third country will benefit from a 72 hours stay in Guangdong without being required a Chinese visa. What is more, as the 72 hours will be counted from 0:00 of the next day, theoretically, tourists can stay in Guangdong for a maximum of 96 hours.
Zhao Yufang, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, said that the implementation of this policy would be expected to attract more international travellers to choose to transit and have a stay in Guangzhou, thereby promoting tourism, trade, exhibition, hospitality, catering and other related industries. In addition, international tourists can also take advantage of this policy to have a “one-stop” tour to both Hong Kong and Macao with the support of transport connects formed by airport, jetty and land transportations.
As the airport’s estimates, the scale of international visitors transferring in Guangzhou will reach one million within this year after the application of the new policy and by the year 2015, international passengers will account for over 20% of the total number, increasing to 1.5 million, which, is expected to bring a growth of nearly five hundred billion RMB on direct tourism consumption to the province.
In line with the new policy, Baiyun International Airport has already improved transiting and checking facilities by adding three exclusive visa-free passways as well as improving the procedures of passport checking, baggage prevention, disease surveillance, etc. At the same time, tourism department in Guangdong province has also selected 23 travel routes covering 11 cities that are tailored for 72 hours short stays.
