Zhejiang Two Sessions | Representatives proposed to combine regional culture to strengthen “deep experiential” inbound tourism
As China’s visa-free policy continues to expand and its tourism market further opens up, Zhejiang Province has also become a key beneficiary of the booming inbound tourism industry. Zhou Yuan, a deputy to the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Congress and the director of the Special Topics Department at the Shaoxing News Media Center, has submitted a proposal at the third session of the 14th Provincial People’s Congress opened on January 14th, suggesting that Zhejiang can strengthen its “deep experiential” inbound tourism, and combine its unique cultural advantages with the needs of foreign tourists to create inbound tourism products with Zhejiang’s unique cultural identity.
Since last year, China has implemented comprehensive visa-free policies with 25 countries and unilaterally visa-free policies with 38 countries. The transit visa foreigners are allowed to stay up to 240 hours in China. According to the statistics from Zhejiang Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection Station, as of November 30th last year, more than 563,000 foreign nationals have entered China through Zhejiang ports, with a year-on-year increase of 51.3%. Last year, Hangzhou Border Inspection Station welcomed over 348,000 foreign tourists, with an increase of 80% year-on-year. Hangzhou also made it to the list of the top ten cities in the “2025 Spring Festival Tourism Market Prediction Report” by Ctrip for foreign tourists’ favorite inbound tourism destinations.
“It is foreseeable that the ‘China Travel’ will continue to gain value in 2025. Inbound tourism will not only open up broader spaces for the tourism market in Zhejiang, but also provide a vivid scene for telling ‘China Stories’ on overseas platforms through tourism videos.” Zhou Yuan told Bloomberg News (www.thepaper.cn) that Zhejiang is a “bridgehead” for opening up to the outside world, one of the most economically active provinces in China, with frequent international economic and trade exchanges. It is also a major cultural and tourism province with four World Heritage sites and 21 national 5A scenic spots. In addition, Zhejiang boasts a high concentration of high-star hotels and international brand hotels, superior infrastructure, developed high-speed rail networks, high-quality service, and many advantages for inbound tourism.
She believes that in light of the new changes and features emerging in the highly competitive inbound tourism market, Zhejiang needs to further leverage its advantages to promote inbound tourism to new heights and transform policy “flow” into development “retention”. She suggests strengthening the “deep experiential” inbound tourism based on changes in core tourist attractions.
“In addition to traditional well-known scenic spots, overseas tourists now have a stronger interest in experiencing Chinese culture and quality of life. Some foreign tourists even specifically visit the ‘internet celebrity’ wet markets in Hangzhou and Ningbo. At the same time, new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data are continuously enriching tourism industries and service methods. For example, buses that can accurately display waiting time, scenic spots that allow face recognition entry, and scanning QR codes to obtain foreign language tour guides often become ‘stars’ in travel Vlogs.” Zhou Yuan suggests that in the planning, design, and promotion of inbound tourism routes and products in Zhejiang, a stronger emphasis should be placed on rich experiences rather than mere “sightseeing”. Through market research, we should increase the design of experiential tours that better meet the preferences of foreign tourists and have a touch of daily life.
“Especially after extending the inbound stay time to 10 days, foreign tourists will have more time to go deep into remote areas of Zhejiang and experience different natural and humanistic charm. We can combine cultural, transportation, and commercial factors in different cities within the province to create several distinctive depth experience boutique tours for Zhejiang Province. Zhou Yuan noted that Zhejiang has a number of cultural icons recognized by the East Asian cultural circle such as Song dynasty culture and Yangming culture. She suggested that cultural tourism departments across the province better integrate regional cultural advantages with the needs of foreign tourists and design corresponding inbound tourism products for different regions and countries such as Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, and America. For example, for the Japanese and Korean markets, Shaoxing and Yuyao can develop inbound tours and cultural products related to Yangming culture that can evoke cultural resonance among tourists; for the “second-generation and third-generation overseas Chinese” inbound tourist group, Wenzhou and Lishui’s cultural tourism departments can further strengthen their cultural experiential and research-based tourism products so that they can find their spiritual “home” during their travel experience.”
