The visitors from Oceania enjoyed a two-day tour of the city. They tasted dim sum, visited historic sites, including the Chen Clan Academy and the Museum of the Nanyue King Mausoleum, soaked in the atmosphere at the city's new landmark Canton Tower and strolled through markets and parks.
Adrian Schofield from Aviation Week based in New Zealand was amazed by Guangzhou and thinks it's a pity that not many New Zealanders know about the city or the 72-hour visa-free transit policy.
"China Southern Airlines' Boeing 787 service to Auckland is New Zealand's first Boeing 787 service, which will effectively enhance the airline company's publicity in the country and the company can help promote the Chinese city and the visa policy to New Zealanders," Schofield said.
Tourist agencies in Guangdong province expected the 72-hour visa-free policy to spur inbound tourism, but they haven't seen a significant growth in the number of foreign visitors in the past three months.
Fang Fang, vice-general manager of the inbound tourism department of GZL International Travel Service, a major agency in the province, said that the agency has received around 80 foreign tourists who made a stopover in Guangzhou on a 72-hour visa-free transit since Aug 1. Only a few of them took advantage of the visa policy's ability for tourists to travel to other cities in Guangdong province.
"The tourism authority and China Southern Airlines should make good use of the data they've collected and visit those big international transit passenger origins to host promotional events," the manager said.
Beijing and Shanghai introduced the visa-free policy in January. Chengdu in Sichuan province offered the same visa-free transit in September, and Chongqing will carry it out from November.
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