Mongolia eagerly awaits arrival of Chinese tourists

Recently, there has been an increase in personnel exchanges at border ports between China and Mongolia. As China continues to optimize its epidemic prevention and control policies and resume citizens' outbound travel in an orderly manner, Mongolia has high hopes for the recovery of the tourism industry.

"China is the largest market for Mongolia's tourism industry." Gangtumur, chairman of the Mongolian Tourism Association, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency recently that Mongolia has been committed to attracting more Chinese tourists.

He said that tourism is of strategic significance to the economic and social development of Mongolia. In the past two years, the country's government has taken various measures to promote the recovery and development of the tourism industry affected by the epidemic.

According to data from the Ministry of Natural Environment and Tourism of Mongolia, Mongolia received a record number of foreign tourists in 2019, reaching 577,000, of which Chinese tourists accounted for more than 30%. After the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the number of foreign tourists traveling to Mongolia has dropped significantly.

Gangtumur emphasized that the Mongolian government and tourism industry are constantly striving to improve service quality, product quality and competitiveness in order to welcome more foreign tourists, especially Chinese tourists.

Puribsuren, head of a Mongolian travel agency, told reporters: "We have been improving our marketing management strategy in order to attract more Chinese tourists in the next few years. Many Chinese tourists have booked tour groups, hoping to experience the local nomadic life. Admire the natural beauty and places of interest.”

Pribsuren said that recently, local travel agencies jointly set up a special committee to study how to improve tourism management and attract Chinese tourists. In addition, many Mongolian people are also looking forward to traveling to China.

"As far as I know, the tourism industry around the world is eagerly looking forward to the return of Chinese tourists." Enkhjule, the head of another travel agency, said that he believes that Mongolia will receive a large number of Chinese tourists this year.

The Mongolian economy relies heavily on the mining industry. The government believes that the development of tourism is one of the most feasible ways to achieve economic diversification, and has designated 2023 to 2025 as the "Year of Visiting Mongolia". In addition, the Mongolian government has also proposed a plan to receive 1 million foreign tourists in 2023.