November 5, 2025

Thanks to convenient visa policies, direct flight routes and unique travel experiences, the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Middle Eastern countries led by the United Arab Emirates increased sharply during this year’s combined National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Golden Holiday in China. According to data from Ctrip, from 27 September to 8 October, bookings by Chinese tourists travelling to Abu Dhabi increased by 229% year-on-year. In addition, data from travel data analysis company ForwardKeys show that from 27 September to 12 October, the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Dubai increased by 27% year-on-year. To deepen tourism cooperation with the Gulf Arab countries, China has achieved full visa-free “coverage” for all member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Citizens of GCC countries need only a passport to make a “spur-of-the-moment” trip to China, and many Gulf countries are experiencing a surge of “Travel to China” fever. In order to further enhance the Arab side’s attention to China’s inbound tourism market, since the beginning of this year, under the guidance of China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Chinese Embassy in the UAE and the Chinese Consulate-General in Dubai, the China Cultural Center in the UAE has carried out a series of tourism promotion activities for citizens of Gulf countries. From 28 April to 1 May this year, the China Cultural Center in the UAE organized a delegation of 130 participants composed of seven culture and tourism authorities and 26 tourism-related enterprises from 13 destinations in China—Beijing, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Chongqing and Shaanxi—to jointly participate in the 2025 Arabian Travel Market held in Dubai, UAE. The China pavilion, themed “Hello! China”, focused on “business matching and negotiations between Chinese and foreign travel operators”, highlighting three major features: “tourism + culture”, “tourism + aviation” and “tourism + technology”, and promoted China’s inbound tourism in an all-round way. Twenty-six Chinese inbound tourism-related enterprises conducted in-depth business matching and negotiations with travel operators from various Arab countries in the China pavilion, presenting the latest products and services for inbound tourism to China. They received more than 150 formal enquiries for inbound tour groups to China, some of which have already been converted into actual bookings. On 23 September, the “Hello! China” CHINA GATEWAY 2025 China–Gulf Arab Countries Tourism Fair opened in Dubai, UAE, with more than 160 representatives of Chinese and Arab travel operators and institutions in attendance. At the event, 11 Chinese inbound tourism suppliers and 37 buyer travel agencies from Gulf countries, as well as 42 Chinese outbound travel agencies and 46 travel operators from Gulf countries, carried out business negotiations centring on inbound and outbound tourism between China and Gulf countries, exhibition visits, cultural and museum experiences, and educational study tours. A seminar was held under the theme of “China–Gulf Region Tourism and Reception of High-Net-Worth Clients” to actively expand both sides’ markets and carry out business negotiations. Institutions such as the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, Emirates Airline, Oman Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, and Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla were also invited to participate. Since China began to implement unilateral visa-free policies in succession at the end of 2023, “Travel to China” has continued to gain popularity on overseas social media platforms, with travellers eagerly sharing their unique experiences in China. After China announced the implementation of unilateral visa-free policies for Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, an online influencer delegation from the UAE visiting China, organized by the Chinese Embassy in the UAE and the China Cultural Center in the UAE, visited Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing and other places, capturing a real and three-dimensional China through their lenses. Their content received more than 30 million views at home and abroad, triggering another wave of “China fever”. Emirati travel blogger Abdullah Mattar said on social media that the visa-free policies are a major boon for tourists from GCC countries, including the UAE, to travel to China. In June this year, the Chinese Embassy in Bahrain and the China Cultural Center in the UAE jointly held a “Hello! China” tourism promotion event at the largest shopping mall in Bahrain. Lion dance performances and tea art demonstrations attracted large crowds of people to stop and watch. Many in the audience said that the visa-free policies had turned a “trip to China” from a dream into a “spur-of-the-moment” reality. In September this year, with the support of the China Cultural Center in the UAE, the Chengdu Art Troupe from China successfully staged a special performance titled “Under the Same Moon, Though Miles Apart” at the Bahrain National Theatre. Sichuan-style dances, new Chinese folk music, acrobatic ball skills, Sichuan opera, martial arts and foot juggling took to the stage in turn, while interactive activities such as intangible cultural heritage sugar painting, dough figurines, paper-cutting and rope weaving fully showcased the profound heritage of Chinese culture and the unique charm of Bashu culture. In view of differences in food, culture, language and other aspects for citizens of Gulf countries, governments of Chinese tourism destinations and travel operators are actively cooperating to introduce more facilitation measures, so that “a spur-of-the-moment trip to China, travelling China with ease and joy” can become the choice of more people in Gulf countries. Ayed Al-Yami, Director of the Office of International Affairs at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment, said on social media: “A ‘spur-of-the-moment’ trip to China is something to look forward to. I am glad to see that relations between Saudi Arabia and China are becoming closer, and that cultural exchanges and people-to-people exchanges are becoming more convenient.” Jawad Al-Hawaj, President of the Bahrain–China Friendship Society, said that the visa-free policies have created opportunities for deepening friendly cooperation between Bahrain and China, and that the Society will seize these opportunities to enhance people-to-people exchanges between Bahrain and China. Ishaq Al-Azri, a professor in the Chinese Department of Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, said that it is foreseeable that the