UKinbound has issued a call for the government to make its two-year reduced cost multi-entry Chinese visa pilot a permanent scheme. The trade association, which represents nearly 400 tourism businesses, surveyed its tour operator members to find the impact on their businesses of the visa pilot and found 85% stated that bookings from China have increased since it was introduced.
The scheme is due to end in January 2018.
With China’s Golden Week holiday set to begin on 1 October, UKinbound is seizing the moment to lobby government.
In 2016, the number of visitor visas issued in China for visitors to the UK increased by 20% (compared with 2015) to over 480,000. Chinese visitors also spent over £513m in the UK in 2016. However, when asked how the government could improve the current visa system for Chinese visitors (and hence attract more to the UK), 73% of respondents stated multi-entry to the UK over longer periods of time, for the same cost.
The current two-year pilot visa costs £85. One-stop-shop visa application centres and application forms in Chinese languages were also addressed as important improvements that could be made.
UKinbound, chief executive officer, Deirdre Wells OBE (pictured), says: “We’re excited to once again welcome Chinese tourists to the UK during Golden Week and it’s encouraging to hear that the government’s two-year visa pilot has resulted in increased Chinese visitors for our tour operator members.
