Suzhou welcomed a large overseas tour group for the first time in three years on April 22.
The group, consisting of 82 Indonesian tourists, visited the Couple's Retreat Garden, also known as Ouyuan Garden, which is honored on UNESCO’s list of the world heritage sites.
Zhu Shengwen, director of the Foreign Exchange and Cooperation Department of the Suzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism, said that Jiangsu received more than 100,000 international tourists in the first two months of the year, with 40% of them visiting Suzhou. However, most of these tourists were backpackers, in addition to those on business trips.
This group of Indonesian tourists was the largest to visit Suzhou since the pandemic broke out three years ago.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China’s travel agencies and online tourism service providers are permitted to provide inbound group tours for foreign tourists starting March 31, such as offering travel packages of flight tickets and hotels.
Currently, Suzhou's culture and tourism department is communicating with overseas travel agencies to attract tourists, and this effort has already made smooth progress. It’s expected that more foreign tourists will be visiting the city soon.
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