Zhangjiajie Airport Leads Non-capital Cities in Central China for Inbound and Outbound Trips in H1

Inbound tourism has kept flourishing in China as a variety of favorable policies have been rolled out this year. According to the data released by the Zhangjiajie Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection Station, in the first half of this year, Zhangjiajie airport has handled more than 240,000 inbound and outbound trips, making a year-on-year growth of 389% and 1.7-fold increase over the same period of 2019.

Zhangjiajie has topped the non-capital cities in central China in the number of inbound and outbound trips, among which 94.4% of the trips were made by foreign visitors.

International air route network expands

The Zhangjiajie-Ulaanbaatar international passenger air route was launched on July 8. It is the first regular passenger air route between Zhangjiajie and Mongolia, which will further facilitate tourist visits and cooperation between the two places.

In 2024, Zhangjiajie has successively resumed and launched 12 international and regional passenger air routes, and rolled out ten measures to further reinforce and improve flight services. These efforts have provided strong guarantees for the inbound travelers to Zhangjiajie.

The 12 operating routes have covered destinations in northeast and southeast Asia and other major inbound tourist sources. Among them, 5 routes links Zhangjiajie with South Korea, 5 routes with southeast Asia, one with Mongolia, and one with Hong Kong SAR.

More direct air routes have been launched, providing more convenient options for travelers. In the first half of this year, Zhangjiajie airport has operated nearly 1,500 international passenger flights, increasing by 322% year on year and with an average passenger load factor of more than 80%. About 50 flights between Zhangjiajie and South Korea have been operated, serving nearly 2,000 inbound and outbound trips on the peak day.

Intelligent inspection brings convenience to passengers

"Now, customs clearance is very quick to complete. I can handle the procedures on my phone conveniently," said Sang-Gu Kang, a Korean traveler who frequently travels between South Korea and Zhangjiajie.

Since 2023, Zhangjiajie airport has implemented multilateral inspection to cope with increasing inbound trips. The airport has rolled out a series of measures to improve customs efficiency, including around-the-clock service, streamlined customs clearance, and timely service upon arrivals. Meanwhile, it has upgraded customs clearance equipment which has helped improve customs clearance convenience and efficiency.

The inbound tourism in Zhangjiajie is booming. It is estimated that Zhangjiajie has seen 911,500 inbound trips in the first half, making 247.031 million USD of foreign exchange earnings from tourism, up 569.17% and 673.55% respectively.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn