Interest in Türkiye soars among Chinese tourists after introduction of visa-free policy

Türkiye's introduction of visa-free entry for eligible Chinese citizens has ignited interest among holidaymakers in planning a visit to the Eurasian country, while Turkish airports and businesses are actively preparing to welcome more visitors from China.

Under the policy launched on January 2, Chinese citizens holding ordinary passports can enter Türkiye visa-free for tourism or transit for up to 90 days within a 180-day period.

In Shanghai, a travel agency has intensified efforts to advertise Türkiye tours to visitors.

Many consumers who are planning a trip have shown increasing interest in Türkiye visit largely due to the visa-free scheme, and the tour operator reported a surge in business.

"I recently learned that Türkiye has granted visa-free travel (to eligible Chinese tourists), so I'd like to take my parents on a visit to Türkiye during holidays," said a consumer.

"Since Türkiye began granting visa-free travel (to eligible Chinese tourists), it has become very popular, with both inquiries and bookings increasing several times over. Bookings for the Spring Festival holiday season alone have tripled. Bookings are basically full during February," said Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Spring Tour.

Similarly, another travel agency in Shanghai said that inquiries about Turkish tour have more than doubled compared to the previous period, and group tours are basically fully booked for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.

"Since I run my own business, I'm usually quite busy. Visa-free countries are more appealing to me because they're generally more welcoming, and Türkiye, in particular, means romance and relaxation to me," said a consumer.

"Türkiye's visa-free policy has boosted sales on many surrounding tourism routes, such as those from Greece to Türkiye or from Egypt to Türkiye," said Wang Xiuyun, head of Tongcheng Travel's Changning Road branch.

Expecting a surging number of travelers from China, Turkish businesspeople and airports have stepped up efforts to improve their Chinese language skills and services.

Grand Bazaar, one of Istanbul's most famous tourist attractions, is home to thousands of stores.

Many shop owners said they are busy learning the Chinese language as they predict that the easier entry will lead to an influx of tourists from China.

"Since more Chinese visitors are expected, we are in a hurry to study the Chinese language. We will strive to improve our Chinese proficiency to better serve travelers from China," said Salih Budak, a candy shop owner.

In addition to learning to communicating with tourists in their native language, many shop owners have considered enabling payments using a mobile device, which is more familiar to Chinese consumers.

Airports are also making preparations.

The Istanbul Airport has worked to include Chinese signs across its facilities under the "China Friendly Airport" project since 2022.

With the implementation of the visa-free policy, the airport plans to increase the number of Chinese-speaking staff to assist at key procedures such as customs clearance and baggage claim, ensuring a smooth entry process for tourists from China.

Interest in Türkiye soars among Chinese tourists after introduction of visa-free policy

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index ended slightly higher on Monday while Japan's Nikkei 225 saw a decline, according to Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN).

The Hang Seng Index went up 0.06 percent to close at 26,765.52 points on Monday and the benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, dropped by 1.79 percent to end at 52,885.25 points.

"The Hang Seng managed to claw back some earlier losses and end the session flat. The big supporting factor in Hong Kong was also Chinese energy and metals stocks. I said miners were going gangbusters, well, Zijin Mining surged to a record high at one point today, adding 7.8 percent, but closed 4.4 percent higher, paring those gains a little bit. Zijin mines copper as well as gold and announced today that an expansion of a Chinese copper mine project was now up and running. Its Hong Kong shares have risen almost 18 percent since the start of this year, and its Shanghai stock has also made some pretty comfortable double digit gains. The downside in Hong Kong today was also the same story as the Chinese mainland - it was tech. The Hang Seng Tech Index shed 1.2 percent by the end of the session," he said.

Popo said the decline in the Tokyo market was caused by fears of a joint Japanese-US currency intervention.

"Over in Tokyo the Nikkei 225 was down 1.8 percent as investors were on guard for a potential joint Japanese-US currency intervention. The Japanese Prime Minister said all necessary steps would be taken to act against abnormal market moves, but she was fairly non-specific. The yen surged on Friday after the New York Fed reportedly conducted a rate check, and it was up again today to a more than three-month high. The intervention would be to stem yen declines, but it's not clear if that threat has been averted as yet. But Japan's exporter heavy markets were down on the currency gains today, automaker stocks like Nissan and Honda traded significantly lower, as did the tech investor Softbank, it was one of the Nikkei's heaviest decliners. Conversely, of course, it was good for importer stocks, but those gains didn't do nearly enough to outweigh the very broad-based losses that we saw in Monday's session in Tokyo," he said.

Hong Kong stock markets edge higher, Tokyo stocks decline amid currency fluctuations: analyst