TMTPOST -- Inbound tourism in China is undergoing a dramatic transformation, presenting a lucrative opportunity for industry players. Xu Sheng, who returned to southwestern Chinese city Chengdu three months ago to focus exclusively on inbound tourism, has already earned 450,000 yuan since then. During a phone interview, Xu frequently paused to respond to business inquiries—December orders alone surged by 60%, with revenue expected to hit new highs.

This booming industry has turned “hustle” into a new buzzword. Lan He, an English-speaking tour guide in Guangzhou, exemplifies the trend. Reviewing her schedule, Lan found fewer than five off days this month, with the rest packed with assignments from travel agencies.

"What started as a side gig in inbound tourism has become a full-time job due to overwhelming demand," she said. Her colleagues are even busier, with some fully booked for the next three months, and travel agencies in cities like another popular tourist destination Chongqing scheduling tours as far out as the end of next year.

According to official data, China's inbound tourist arrivals reached 95 million in the first three quarters of 2024, recovering to over 90% of pre-pandemic levels. For some visa-exempt countries, the number of inbound visitors has doubled year-over-year.

With the visa-free policy extended to 240 hours (10 days) from initially 72 hours and subsequently 144 hours, foreign tourists' enthusiasm is expected to be further stimulated—just an hour after the policy announcement on December 17, the search interest for flights to China and hotels in China by overseas tourists on OTA platforms had spiked by 87% year-on-year.

In an era when many industries are grappling with uncertainty, inbound tourism has emerged as one of the few "niche markets," attracting significant investment and attention.

Xu's entrepreneurial pivot from luxury goods to inbound tourism came after his high-end retail business in Europe suffered a 40% partner attrition rate this year. His annual income plunged, forcing him to explore alternatives.

One day, Xu stumbled upon viral TikTok videos showing China's scenic destinations. Intrigued, he discovered that European inbound travelers to China had been steadily increasing, with some countries seeing 30,000–50,000 visitors monthly.

Without hesitation, he posted a video of breathtaking landscapes at Jiuzhaigou, garnering over a million views and hundreds of inquiries.

Xu quickly leveraged his years of experience dealing with international clients to design premium travel packages. When a foreign customer balked at his 1,500 yuan quote for top-tier car services, citing cheaper alternatives at 700 yuan, Xu explained the value of quality service and shared glowing client reviews. The strategy worked—the customer paid in full.

“For foreigners, travel is more than sightseeing; it's about immersive experiences,” Xu explained. Southeast Asian tourists’ willingness to spend 3,000 yuan on panda memorabilia first shocked him but indicated the spending power of foreign visitors.

"The numbers might not seem high, but considering the population of European countries is in the tens of millions, this percentage is quite significant," he said.

This greatly boosted Xu's confidence. Having navigated the European market for years, he knew well their spending power, but the actual results exceeded his expectations.

Li Yi noted a similar trend in Chongqing. “Domestic low-cost tours have been increasingly unprofitable. In contrast, inbound tourism has revitalized the industry,” she said. Many traditional travel agencies are now hiring aggressively to capitalize on this growing demand.

When she arranged to meet foreign tourists at 9 a.m., she would arrive ten minutes early and wait downstairs at the hotel. However, the tourists wouldn’t respond until 9:30 a.m., casually responding, “Sorry, just woke up.”

By the time they reached the scenic spot, they were already an hour behind schedule. While Li tried to speed things up, the foreigners remained laidback, stopping to ask for detailed explanations whenever something caught their interest. By 5 p.m., they were ready to head back to the hotel.

Having grown accustomed to the “special forces-style tourism” of Chinese travelers, who rush through every minute of their itinerary, Li found herself a bit out of sorts when dealing with these easygoing overseas tourists. But upon reflection, she couldn’t help but feel happy about the change.

“Many traditional travel agencies in Chongqing may seem busy on the surface, but their actual profits are not very high. In contrast, agencies specializing in inbound tourism are so busy during peak times that everyone, from the boss to the accountants, is working overtime at full capacity,” Li explained.

In fact, many travel agency owners have already started recruiting staff and gearing up for a major push. With the first wave of foreign tourists spreading the word about their experiences, ‘Travel in China’ is likely to gain traction overseas through word of mouth.

Some industry observers estimate that if inbound tourists—excluding those from Hong Kong and Macau—reach 100 million visits annually, with each visitor spending $3,000, the inbound tourism market could generate a massive 2.1 trillion yuan in revenue.

However, Li pointed out, “As the future looks promising, everyone wants a piece of the cake, but when it comes to how to actually make it happen, no one seems to have a clear answer.”

The inbound tourism boom is largely driven by social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube, where foreign travelers discover China's unique charm. However, China’s domestic travel agencies, constrained by limited access to international platforms and tight marketing budgets, struggle to acquire clients from this market effectively.

New players like An Liang, a tourism planner based in Thailand, whose team repurposes viral Chinese tourism videos for overseas platforms. By recruiting part-time students as social media influencers, his team generates over 600 inquiries monthly, earning a 30% commission on bookings referred to Chinese travel agencies.

Xu, operating from Europe, employs a more hands-on approach. Crafting content tailored to Western audiences, he shares “local secrets” with a personal touch, which resonates with Europeans. For instance, his tours highlight historical and cultural landmarks in China over natural landscapes, given easy access and proximity to the Alps, equally stunning scenes compared with China’s natural beauty.

“Understanding foreign travelers’ preferences is crucial,” Xu said, recounting a misstep where visitors protested long queues at a panda park. This lesson underscored the importance of service and meticulous planning.

Travelers’ priorities have shifted from merely taking photos to experiencing local cultures. For example, An’s custom itinerary in Jiexiu, featuring traditional glazed tile-making workshops, became an instant hit. “Foreign tourists value hands-on experiences over photo ops,” he noted.

Unlike An's approach, Xu, who is rooted in Europe, opts to personally engage in generating online traffic.

"A senior Chengdu local tells you about three hidden gems..." "These are routes only locals know..." Xu shares insights in a local tone, drawing from his experience interacting with Westerners, and it works every time. "While the 'family' approach doesn't resonate among Chinese tourists, it still appeals abroad."

Xu tailors his promotional content to Western tastes, focusing on history, culture, and pandas, rather than western Sichuan's snowy mountains, given that Europeans are likely tired of seeing mountains like the Alps.

His cautious approach stems from the past pitfalls. On his first inbound tour, Xu deliberately chose a less crowded weekday to visit Chengdu Panda Park, only to find that foreigners had zero tolerance for queues, leading to a protest right on the spot.

This also means that once you have a thorough understanding of what foreign visitors want, the financial prospects could be limitless.

5, 10, 15... The steadily climbing number of completed orders in the backend signaled that yet another inbound tourism specialty route designed by An had gone viral.

This particular route includes a hands-on experience in crafting glazed tiles. When he witnessed the dazzling traditional tiles emerging from fiery kilns in Jiexiu, he was confident it would become a hit. “Unlike domestic tourists, who are keen on taking photos, checking in at landmarks, and posting on social media, foreign tourists value immersive experiences more,” he explained.

Currently, An has partnered with travel agencies in multiple regions to create over 10 niche, in-depth travel routes. Between consultation fees and commission splits, this alone has earned him nearly hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhou, who treats inbound tourism as a side hustle, has carved out her own unique path through what some might call “unconventional” activities—accompanying foreigners to local markets one day and watching elderly men play chess in a park the next. She has even added quirky activities like “square dancing” performances and visits to farmers’ markets to her itineraries, making money with minimal effort.

“Foreigners, who are often exposed to negative news about China in international media, may have seen a different side of the country on TikTok, but many of them are still driven by curiosity,” Zhou said. “They not only want to see the good but also verify the bad.”

She always provides local guides with a checklist when arranging tours for visitors. In addition to tailoring itineraries to their preferences, she includes specific considerations—like arranging halal restaurants for Muslim tourists or avoiding organ meat dishes for Europeans—to ensure a positive impression of China.

This attention to detail has earned Zhou a steady stream of orders. She has hosted tourists across all major popular destinations, and her social media platforms receive dozens of private messages daily from people asking her to “show them the ropes.”

However, she often advises others not to jump into the industry.

After Li obtained her English tour guide certificate, the number of people seeking her advice on how to get certified quickly surpassed the number of foreign tourists she was hosting.

"Feel free to ask me any questions, lads." As soon as she sent this message, the group of 50 English majors about to graduate exploded with activity, messages pouring in non-stop—these students had not secured any job offers during the fall recruitment and were eager to pass the foreign language tour guide certification exam to lock in a job.

Li understands the desperation of young people trying to enter the industry. Compared to working as a translator, constantly living under the "shadow of ChatGPT," the field of foreign language tour guiding is still a blue ocean. Knowing a less common language makes one even more attractive.

"But you can't get a foreign language tour guide certificate just by knowing a language," she explained, using English as an example, where the pass rate is only about 30%.

Besides language skills, foreign language tour guides must be familiar with tourism operations, laws, and possess coordination and communication abilities. If Li hadn't worked as an "unofficial tour guide" abroad during college or spent two years as a tourism planner after graduation, she would have had to take the exam several times to pass.

The boom in inbound tourism waits for no one. Li noticed that this year, the number of people registering for the tour guide exam has surged, especially for foreign language guides, with growth rates rivaling the increase in inbound tourists.

"I guess in a couple of years, it'll become fiercely competitive again," she sighed, noting that working as a tour guide or local guide requires being prepared to endure hardships. Compared to Li, Zhou is already finding her business tough.

"Find me another female model, a pretty one, who can appear in my vlog," came a message from an Indian client, and Zhou could no longer hold back her frustration, replying with a blunt "no" while setting aside politeness.

This wasn't the first time the client had made unreasonable demands. Somehow, the Indian client had heard that hiring a companion photographer in China only costs $50 a day, and he shamelessly assumed that someone who speaks English, knows photography, can appear on camera, and is available all day should also cost just that.

Zhou negotiated hard to agree on a price and found someone to take the job, but then the client wanted to hire another pretty girl as a local guide, which would be an additional cost. Zhou's patience was wearing thin.

She explained that "there are quite a few savvy foreigners who, after staying in China for a few days, become very familiar with the prices of food, accommodation, and transportation. Making money by exploiting information gaps is becoming increasingly difficult."

For instance, after deducting the payment for the accompanying photographer, Zhou only made a profit of 100 yuan from the client's order.

However, this is highly risky: the client had been in the country for three days and was constantly on the move, wanting to visit cornfields in the suburbs to document the real Chinese countryside one moment, and then clamoring to enter a top-tier university to experience elite Chinese education the next.

Zhou prayed for his safety every day, as any accident could spell disaster for her, lacking formal legal and financial support.

"Going solo is not suitable for inbound tourism; only with mature resource integration capabilities can one establish a foothold," Zhou pointed out.

Yoyo seems to be such a person. Her startup team includes engineers from major companies, tourism professionals, and even a Ph.D. in AI, yet she doesn't have it easy.

While routinely checking the weekly to-do list, Yoyo noticed that one team member's task column was blank. Puzzled, she asked if they hadn't completed their work. The team member replied with a screenshot showing a meeting call with team members at 1 a.m.

Realizing she had wrongly accused her colleague, she apologized repeatedly andher face flushed with embarrassment.

Since starting the business, their team has been tirelessly refining their product. They spent over a month conducting in-depth research separately, all to address the pain points of foreign tourists and create a powerful " local guide" for them.

For example, many subway station names in Chinese cities are in pinyin, which foreigners can't understand, so they launched a practical English map that includes useful translations, locations to get a SIM card, local transportation routes, and more.

Foreigners often lack a clear understanding of China’s geography, so they pinpointed Chinese cities on the English language map , showcasing their unique creativity.

However, the app developed by the team is not expected to launch until June 2025, and the web version won't be available until the end of the month at the earliest.

Recently, Yoyo discovered that overseas travel apps like Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor are also eyeing the Chinese market, while domestic OTA platforms like Ctrip are making adjustments to meet the needs of non-Chinese users as well.

However, Yoyo remains optimistic about the team's prospects. Despite all the challenges, she believes that China's commitment to openness will not waver in the long run, and the recent change from the "144-hour visa-free policy to the 240-hour one" proves the correctness of her judgment.