In order to further attract and serve international transit passengers, showcase the beautiful image of China, Ctrip Group has launched the "Free Half-Day Tour of Beijing" project, which officially launched on December 27, 2024. All international transit passengers through Beijing can sign up for this project for free, and experience Chinese culture in a half-day "fast-forward" way.
Recently, the Chinese tourism market has welcomed new good news, and the visa-free transit time has been extended to 240 hours, injecting new vitality into inbound tourism. The first non-legacy Spring Festival also brings new growth points to the inbound tourism market.
The "Free Half-Day Tour of Beijing" project is Beijing's first free tourism experience project for international transit passengers, providing passengers with a one-stop Beijing tourism experience. The project includes free transportation, foreign language guide explanations, attraction tickets, and free internet services, ensuring that inbound tourists can experience the charm of Beijing without worries. Currently, the project can be applied for at the gathering point in Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport, and tourists from nearly 50 countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Singapore have experienced the project.
It is reported that international transit passengers who have successfully signed up will depart from Beijing Capital Airport and experience two popular tourism IPs, the Great Wall and the Beijing Central Axis. Choosing the "Half-Day Tour of Beijing Great Wall" route can enjoy the magnificent scenery of the Badaling Great Wall and feel the miracle of Chinese architecture 2,000 years ago; choosing the "Half-Day Tour of Beijing Essence" route can experience the non-legacy culture of the Beijing Central Axis, visit the Temple of Heaven, Qianmen Street, and Tian'anmen Square, and feel the historical heritage and traditional culture of Beijing. In just half a day of transit time, leaving international transit passengers with beautiful memories of Chinese culture.
With the approach of the first "non-legacy version" of the Spring Festival, it is expected that a large number of tourists will transit through Beijing. Beijing has increased its service optimization efforts in multiple scenarios such as accommodation, shopping, payment, and tourism booking for inbound tourists, accelerated the construction of global tourism destinations, and created a "preferred destination for inbound tourism in China", which has been praised by more and more inbound tourists.
Ctrip data shows that with the expansion of the number of visa-free countries and the continuous relaxation of the 240-hour visa-free transit policy, inbound tourism continues to be hot. In 2024, Ctrip's inbound tourism orders increased by more than 100% year-on-year, and the traffic of the overseas platform's "popular Chinese tourism routes" increased by more than 500% year-on-year. During the 2025 Spring Festival, inbound tourism orders increased by 203% year-on-year. As an important popular city for inbound tourism, Beijing's inbound tourists increased by 185% in 2024, with major source countries including Singapore, South Korea, the United States, Russia, and Thailand. The top five favorite attractions for foreign tourists are Universal Beijing Resort, Badaling Great Wall, Mutianyu Great Wall, the Palace Museum, and the Summer Palace.
