With the opening of direct flights, relaxation of visa regimes and other incentives, many African countries are expecting the arrival of more Chinese tourists.
In 2015, more than 100 million Chinese traveled abroad, making China the world's top outbound tourist market.
As more and more Chinese tourists go abroad, the vast, naturally beautiful and historically rich African continent is increasingly becoming a favorite destination.
In 2008, only 2.8 percent of Chinese tourists went to Africa. But in 2014, the number has more than tripled to 9.4 percent. Since 2010, the number of Chinese tourists who visited Africa has an average growth rate of 50 percent every year.
In August, 2015, China Southern Airlines launched flights to Kenya, serving the busy Nairobi-Guangzhou route. The airline cited the rising number of Chinese tourists visiting Kenya as a major factor in launching the route. Air China also launch direct flights from Beijing to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last year.
In the past, stringent visa regulations have been a major stumbling block in the way of Chinese tourists who plan to visit Africa. But recently, some African countries are relaxing visa regimes to attract more Chinese tourists.
The Zimbabwean government has announced a new visa regime that relaxes visa controls for tourists traveling in groups from China.
Under the new visa regime, Chinese tourists travelling in groups and cleared by tour operators and travel agencies in China qualify to obtain visa on arrival.
