One can admire the exquisite,graceful Jiangnan-style garden while setting foot in the Xu Garden,and enjoy the long, glorious history of Jinling when climbing Ming Dynasty City Wall.

Recently, a 100-member inbound MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) tour group composed of tourists from the United States, Russia and other countries and regions arrived in Nanjing, and launched a journey of cultural exploration apart from holding industry conferences.

Thanks to China's continuous expansion of its visa-free "circle of friends", Nanjing attracts more international tourists in virtue of its splendid mountains, rivers and forests in one city, as well as the profound cultural atmosphere of the City of Literature. In the first quarter of 2024, it welcomed 96,300 inbound overnight visitors, with a 115% increase for the same period last year.

Inbound MICE Tour Group Has a Fascination with Nanjing

"Very beautiful!" Yesterday, the 100-member inbound MICE tour group organized by U-tour climbed the hillock where Jiming Temple is situated. At the feet is Ming Dynasty City Wall with a history of over 600 years, they witnessed Nanjing's mountains, rivers and forests by looking out across the lush Purple Mountain and looking far down on rippling Xuanwu Lake. Tourists from many countries and regions including the United States, Russia, Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia, showered applause upon the scenery.

These sightseers are all employed by a famed foreign company. Except for attending meetings in Nanjing, they visited the Presidential Palace, Xu Garden, Jiming Temple, Ming City Wall, Grand Bao'en Temple Heritage and Scenic Area, Lao Men Dong, and other scenic areas, experienced the art of Yuhua tea-making, and tasted Nanjing-style snacks.

Most team members came to Nanjing for the first time. After a two-day cultural tour, they felt Nanjing was a charming and astonishing city, with one accord, and expressed that they would give priority to Nanjing in their next travel plan.

"The fee for an inbound MICE tour group is twice or three times higher than an ordinary inbound tour group." said Ning Guoxin, Vice President and Chief Government Officer of U-tour. MICE tourism refers to special travel activities held by enterprises for the purpose of rewarding employees, dealers or agents with outstanding achievements, which takes advantage of opportunities from various meetings, conferences and exhibitions. The above group is endowed with extra-high consumption added value, topping the "pyramid" in the tourism market.

An Increasing Number of Overseas Tourists Flock to Nanjing

This year, a growing number of people around the world shouted out, "Go to Nanjing! Have a date with Nanjing".

From March 31 to April 1, a group of 31 German tourists came to Nanjing for a two-day and one-night spring tour with flowers appreciation. It has been the largest European inbound tour group Nanjing welcomed since 2020.

On April 6, an in-depth tour group composed of 26 Singaporean visitors arrived in Nanjing, and then opened their three-day and two-night "rendezvous in Spring" in the pretty ancient capital.

From May 13 to 18, a delegation of key US tour operators organized by CITS Jiangsu branch went on experiencing a six-day in-depth skip-the-line tour in Nanjing by witnessing oar-splashing and lantern-illuminating Qinhuai River, and experiencing calligraphy and Chinese tea ceremony in the "study" of Ming Dynasty City Wall.

Nowadays, more and more travelers from all over the world come here admiringly to touch the historical context of Nanjing on the city wall, perceive the marketplace atmosphere by the Qinhuai River, appreciate the essence of traditional culture in the intangible cultural heritage, experience the humanistic connotations in informative museum and start a discovering journey of the ancient city in the city walk...

The head of CITS Jiangsu branch introduced, "Since March 2024, the number of German, French, Italian and Spanish tourists we welcomed have been on a significant rise. Our company has also made gratifying breakthroughs in South America and other emerging markets."

"So far, the number of inbound tours we welcomed has been back to 2019 levels, and tourists mainly come from Southeast Asian countries and regions, such as Singapore and Malaysia." said the Immigration Manager of Jiangsu Kanghui International Conference & Exhibition Co., Ltd.

Inbound Overnight Visitors in the First Quarter Doubled from Last Year

Since 2023, China has expanded its visa-free "circle of friends", heating up Nanjing's inbound tourism market in a continuous way.

Last year, China tried out a visa-free policy for more countries. Since December 1, 2023, China has decided to implement a unilateral visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia on a trial basis. The mutual visa exemption agreement for citizens holding ordinary passports signed by China and Singapore came into effect on February 9, 2024. The mutual visa exemption agreement for citizens holding ordinary passports signed by China and Thailand came into effect on March 1, 2024. From March 14 this year, China has adopted a visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg...

"We can take a Thai guest in the MICE tour group as an example. Previously, when organizing MICE tourism in Nanjing, we had to send him or her an invitation letter one month in advance, we had to send him an invitation letter one month in advance, and then he would take it to the embassy to apply for a Chinese visa. After the implementation of the visa-free policy, the guest boarded the plane directly with his passport and ticket. " said Ning Guoxin. Currently, guests traveling for business seem to enjoy the most obvious benefits of visas, just so-called "take leave without delay".

As early as May last year, the Nanjing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau launched a brand promotion activity with invitations extended to the world. At present, two brand routes have been fully marketed, which is expected to add at least one thousand domestic and overseas MICE tourists to Nanjing every year.

An officer of the Nanjing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau introduced that in the first quarter of 2024, Nanjing welcomed 96,300 inbound overnight tourists, an increase of 115 percent over the same period last year, and its tourism's foreign exchange earnings reached 164 million US dollars, with an increase of 81.2% for the same period in 2023. In the second quarter, Nanjing continues to heat up its inbound tourism market. In May, there are almost 10 skip-the-line groups from Spain, Italy, Singapore and other countries coming to Nanjing for inspection.