Direct flights between New Zealand and China now exceed pre-pandemic levels
A Chinese Tourism Information Session has highlighted the increase of tourists from China
A Chinese Tourism Information Session was held in Auckland on Wednesday.
The session was jointly hosted by the the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand, the Chinese consulates in Auckland and Christchurch, the China cultural centre in Wellington and Auckland, and organised by China Travel Service New Zealand.
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Wang Xiaolong, Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, said that tourism plays a unique role in improving the understanding between the people of New Zealand and China and “thus bringing us closer.”
To encourage more international tourists, this year, the Chinese government has adopted a range of measures covering visa, payment, flight, and accommodation to improve the travel experience for overseas tourists.
Meanwhile, Chinese tourists are also enthusiastic about traveling to New Zealand.
“According to Statistics New Zealand, as of May this year, New Zealand received 226,000 Chinese tourists, up by 336.7 percent year-on-year. This fully demonstrates the strong desire from both sides for more people-to-people interactions and two-way travel,” Wang said.
Xu Tong, director of the China Cultural Center in Wellington, said that since the end of the pandemic, a number of direct flights between China and New Zealand had resumed, facilitating tourism between the two countries. Currently, six cities in the Chinese mainland have opened direct flights to New Zealand, with 50 flights per week, exceeding the pre-pandemic record.
Air China’s Auckland office said that starting this winter, Air China’s Auckland-Beijing direct flights are planned to gradually increase from the current four flights per week to one flight per day to meet growing demand.
Sarah is a freelance journalist with experience across print, digital and audio. After working for Multimedia Publishing as a contributing writer, she has recently joined the team in a part-time capacity for School News AU and AccomNews.
