“The trip [to Egypt] has changed my impression of Arab countries dramatically, which I had previously found mysterious because of some of my stereotypical ideas about them. But now I feel that we are just different; nothing good or bad,” he said.
Data shows there has been a triple-digit growth in bookings to key Middle Eastern destinations in the first three months of this year compared with last year, according to Trip.com Group, China’s largest online travel agency.
The UAE received a total of 1.2 million Chinese tourists last year, the country’s tourism body revealed in June, adding that the tourist figure “is expected to achieve a significant increase this year”.
Like Ian, Kyle was initially drawn to the Middle East by its lower costs compared with European destinations.
According to Kyle, his return airfare between Shanghai and Dubai was only around 3,700 yuan (US$510) during the golden week holidays – about a quarter of the price of a return ticket to Paris.
Zhou Tao, head of hotels and hospitality group at JLL in Greater China, said the latest travel boom has come about because of the closer ties forged by the Belt and Road Initiative.
“With the deepening of cooperation between China and the Middle East under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, the number of flights between China and the Middle East have increased and grown rapidly,” he said.
Currently, most Middle Eastern and North African travel destinations offer visa-free travel or landing visas for Chinese citizens, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Morocco, Egypt, Iran and Tunisia.
Such convenience is crucial for tourists like Kyle, who works for a Chinese state bank and prefers destinations that require less paperwork or vetting.
China’s relations with the West are not in the best of times. The current state of relations might be a reason why some people want to visit the Middle East instead of the West
“China’s relations with the West are not in the best of times. The current state of relations might be a reason why some people want to visit the Middle East instead of the West,” he said.
Beijing has flagged the US, Canada and Britain as risky countries to travel to, after they introduced travel advisories to China amid Beijing’s growing anti-espionage drive.
In contrast, China and Middle Eastern nations have been actively promoting people-to-people exchanges, from the public to private sectors.
Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al-Khateeb told the Post that major Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia which only opened its doors to Chinese tourists in 2019, see China as a crucial source of foreign tourists and the potential for growth is huge.
But although the Middle East is winning the competition of attracting Chinese travellers following the pandemic, the West has also begun to return to the game.
But Zhou from JLL still predicted that Chinese tourism to the Middle East would keep increasing as the two sides continue to work together.
“Cooperation and exchanges between China and countries in the Middle East are still deepening, and such exchanges will mean greater convenience and more choices for Chinese tourists, and that will lead to further development and boom of tourism in the Middle East region,” he said.
“Therefore, even if airfares in Europe and the United States fall, the advantages for Chinese tourists travelling to the Middle East will continue.”
But he pointed out that conflicts in the region – from Israel to Iran – could impede the travel boom.
Fan from Shanghai International Studies University said that as more Chinese people become attracted to exploring culturally vibrant and novel travel destinations, “the mysterious yet attractive” Middle East will be on their shortlists.
This is true for Eva Liang, 27, who finds the Middle East is the global destination that attracts her the most.
The Shanghainese consultant, who has lived and worked in London for two years, has travelled to Iran, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria since end of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During her time living in London, she has travelled to nearly all Western countries, but she said her tour to the Middle East gave her “an objective way to see the world”.
“When I am in the Middle East, I can see the region with relative objectivity and I am not influenced by the media from around the world,” she said.