Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries attracted last year almost 4 million Chinese tourists, a boost due to the countries' abundant natural resources, special cultural flavor and high security level.
Experts say the Chinese tourists absorbed by the CEE countries are generally interested in Europe, but are reluctant to go to Western Europe because of recent terror attacks there.
It may be the case, but new visa policies, deepened tourism cooperation with China and better promoting campaigns also contribute to its success.
MORE CHINESE TOURISTS IN ROMANIA
Last year, Romania attracted 24.4 percent more Chinese tourists than in 2015, but the number is still far lower than the country's potential, Romanian Tourism Minister Mircea Titus Dobre told Xinhua.
"We simplified visa application procedures after we signed a protocol to enable Chinese tourists to get tourist group visas in two weeks," said the minister.
But a lack of direct flights between China and Romania and scant budgets for promoting Romanian tourism could explain why only 26,000 Chinese tourists visited the country in 2016, a figure accounting for only some 1.1 percent of the total number of international visitors.
Simplified visa procedures for organized Chinese groups could be an incentive to stimulate their trips to Romania, but it still may not be enough, so free visa application seems to be the next step.
A study of the Chinese travel services provider Ctrip noted that "an increasing number of Chinese choose their travel destinations at the last minute."
The trend has prompted around 60 countries to adopt a visa-free policy toward China, whereas other countries like the Unites States allow for a 10-year visitor visa, said the study.
SERBIA'S FREE-VISA POLICY ATTRACTS CHINESE VISITORS
Serbia was the first CEE country to waive visa application requirements for Chinese tourists. A visa-free deal between Serbia and China came into force in January, just in time to benefit from the Chinese New Year travel spree.
According to European Travel Commission (ETC), based on data of February, Serbia was the destination for the largest growing number of Chinese tourists with a 104.8-percent boost.
CHINESE SPENDING FOUR TIMES MORE MONEY THAN OTHERS IN POLAND
The ETC report revealed that the Chinese market is the world's leading outbound market, and that Chinese tourists spend more when travelling than the average tourists from the rest of the world.
According to the World Tourism Organization, Chinese spent 12 percent more on tourism abroad in 2016 than in the previous year.
According to Polish authorities, Chinese tourists spend over four times more money than the average amount.
Polish Radio quoted Karolina Dawidziuk, spokeswoman for Poland's Central Statistical Office (GUS), as saying that last year average Chinese tourists spend more than 7,800 zloty (2,175 U.S. dollars) in Poland. On average, "every foreign tourist spends 1,800 zloty (502 U.S. dollars) in this country," she added.
