Travel Operators from Gulf Countries Participate in the 2025 China International Travel Mart
On December 19, the 2025 China International Travel Mart, hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, opened in Haikou City, Hainan Province. More than 1,000 travel operators and representatives from 101 countries and regions attended the event. The China Cultural Center in the UAE and Emirates Airline jointly invited a delegation of seven travel operators from Gulf countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait to attend the event in Hainan. During the event, they participated in multiple special promotion sessions and more than 100 one-on-one professional business meetings. The travel operators expanded their networks of local ground-handling agencies, hotels, and attraction suppliers in areas such as holiday tourism, MICE tourism, and business clients, adding more options for further developing inbound China tourism products. During the pre-event familiarization trip in Hainan, the travel operators visited Qionghai, Wanning, Sanya, and Haikou, focusing on understanding local hotels, restaurants, and transportation conditions, and established contacts with multiple local suppliers in Hainan. In preparation for this travel mart, the UAE-based Al-Rais travel company specifically updated its tourism products in November for destinations in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Hong Kong. Emirati travel blogger Abdullah, who participated in the online influencer trip to China in May, specially posted on his social media the article “Six Essential Apps for Traveling to China,” addressing issues related to payment, data, communication, transportation, navigation, translation, and dining. Since China announced in May 2025 the full visa-free coverage for Gulf countries, enthusiasm for traveling to China from Gulf countries has continued to rise. In 2026, the China Cultural Center in the UAE will further carry out online and offline promotions, as well as familiarization trips for travel operators and online influencers, to promote sustained growth in Gulf countries’ enthusiasm for traveling to China.