Passengers wait at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on April 29, 2023, the first day of the five-day May Day holidays. Photo: Courtesy of Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

Visa applications by Chinese have already recovered to reach 35 percent of the pre-pandemic levels as of May 2023, driven by the pent-up travel demand after the opening of international borders, according to VFS Global, an outsourcing and technology services specialist for official and diplomatic missions on Tuesday.

The application voluime is expected to reach 70-80 percent in 2024 driven by rising demand, said Kishen Singh, Chief Operating Officer for the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong & Mongolia with VFS Global in a media briefing in Beijing.
 
"China is one of our biggest and important source markets, and the restart of operations and peak season coincided. We restarted 80 percent of visa application centers in China by the end of May 2023," in response to the pent - up demand for visas applications by Chinese travelers, Singh noted.
 
The outlook for 2023 looks very positive, he added.
 
The company said that major destinations for visa applications for Chinese travelers include Canada, Germany, Italy, the UK and the US. Among countries closer to China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand are among the popular destinations.
 
In China, VFS Global has over 400 visa application centers across 16 cities, catering to visa application facilitation for 35 governments.
 
The Chinese public's enthusiasm for travel abroad, pent up over three years, has been released with a recent surge in visa applications as China removed strict anti-COVID restrictions on international passenger flights and on border-crossing.
 
The loosening of travel restrictions prompted both domestic and foreign airlines to resume their flight services.
 
A total of 169 domestic and foreign airlines will offer 117,222 passengers and cargo flights per week, after the summer schedule started on March 26, data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China showed.
 
Asia-Pacific airlines have experienced a 283.1 percent increase in traffic in March this year compared to figures from 2022, maintaining robust momentum since the lifting of travel restrictions in the region, the International Air Transport Association said on May 4.
 
China's visa authorities abroad resumed issuance of all categories of visas for foreigners starting from March 15.
 
China in March began allowing travel agencies and online tourism services providers to offer group tours to a second list of 40 destinations, including France, Greece, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and Brazil, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
  
Global Times