Passengers from China are welcomed by the commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency and Hello Kitty at Narita airport. Soon, it will be easier than ever for Chinese travelers to say, ‘Hello Kitty!’

Chinese tourists who travel often to Japan will find the hassles of transit less stressful with the launch of a program to enable multiple-entry visas for individuals later this year.
The Japanese government plans to initiate the new system in summer. The offices of foreign minister Seiji Maehara and Japan Tourism Agency chief Hiroshi Mizohata are currently hammering …

THE Chinese are coming. By their millions. As tourists. And it will change our economy in ways that we cannot even imagine.
Tourism is already our third largest export industry behind only coal and iron ore. Almost six million people will visit this year. The industry employs more than half a million people.
In terms of numbers of visitors, China is already our fourth largest source of tourists, but in terms of their value to our economy, Chinese tourists rank second, just behind the UK. But that is based on only …

The process of applying for a visa to visit Europe is so unpleasant that over 450,000 tourists are deterred from coming. This is a core finding of the latest European Tour Operators Association(ETOA) report on visa applications. Indian and Chinese tourists applying for Visas are most likely encounter bad communication and red tape.
Visa processing by the UK is identified as that most likely to cause potential visitors to give up on their travel plans, closely followed by France. Over 58,000 tourists cancelled their trips to the UK owing to slow visa processing, …

Just how how hard can it be, asks Sina blogger and freelance journalist Chen Zikun in his August 6 post, for Chinese travelers to get a visa—with Chen’s answer apparently being: not too hard—in which he shares the stories behind visas for the many countries he’s been to:
Until I went to apply for a visa for my first ever trip out of the country, I was always happily under the impression that, being from a country with a rapidly-developing economy, and especially with how smug red-to-the-root media …

The number of Japanese entry visas issued to Chinese tourists has jumped 6.6-fold this month year-on-year after Tokyo eased entry requirements to attract more Chinese visitors, the Asahi Shimbun said Thursday.
Japan National Tourism Organization said a daily average of 378 tourist visas were issued to Chinese July 8-23, up from 57 over the same period last year.
On July 1, Japan relaxed visa rules by cutting the salary requirement to 60,000 yuan (8,848 U.S. dollars) or more per year for a Chinese to be eligible for a tourist visa, a significant …

South Korea will drastically ease visa restrictions for Chinese visitors who are becoming the major customers of its tourism market, the justice ministry said Tuesday.
From August 1 multiple-entry visas will be issued to employees of China’s top 500 companies, schoolteachers, pensioners, holders of various professional licences and graduates of prestigious colleges, it said.
The multiple-entry visa would allow them to enter South Korea freely for up to three years, the ministry said.
Currently it is offered only to people from advanced countries, owners of platinum or gold-class credit cards and professionals like …

The Visa and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Asia Pacific Travel Intentions Survey 2010 has found mainland Chinese travelers plan to travel most out of all Greater China travelers.
The Survey, which was conducted in May 2010 and interviewed 1,571 people in the Greater China region, found that on average, mainland Chinese travelers are planning for 7.4 business and leisure trips in the next two years, compared with the 5.6 and 4.5 trips anticipated by Hong Kong and Taiwanese travelers.
The results also show that Greater China travelers are less affected by …

Colombia and China on Wednesday signed a “memorandum of understanding,” which the Andean nation hopes will encourage the arrival of more Chinese tourists to its shores.
The agreement, which was signed in Peking, makes Colombia an approved tourist destination for Chinese citizens and facilitate the entry of Chinese tourists into the country.
Although there are still obstacles in the way of maximizing the benefits from the agreement, such as no direct air link between the countries, Luis Guillermo Plata, the Colombian minister of commerce, industry and tourism predicted a “boost” in tourism.
“Colombia …

The Justice Ministry plans to ease visa regulations for Chinese tourists to Korea, whose numbers have been soaring in recent years.
The ministry’s Immigration Office unveiled Thursday a set of measures to allow double visas and alleviate the prerequisites of multiple-entry visas for Chinese nationals. The new visa system is to take effect as early as mid-July after undergoing a two-day opinion survey conducted on visa officials and travel experts.
Elementary, middle and high school teachers, retired pensioners and graduates of prestigious universities will then be granted a multiple entry visa, with …

Sources said recently that Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) had required its member banks in writing not to accept and hear business of Visa and China UnionPay co-branded cards in markets excluding Mainland China through the network of the Chinese payment service provider as from August 1, 2010; otherwise, they will be heavily fined.
The US company is said to be in talks with the member banks
over the issue as early as the start of this year, and those who are found to go against the rules will be fined USD 50,000 …

Asia Pacific travelers stretch their travel budgets by shopping at duty free stores, according to a survey commissioned by Visa1.
The Visa Travel Smart Survey asked 2,226 travelers from across the Asia Pacific region on their travel spending habits and found that Korean and Chinese travelers spent the most on duty free items on their last trip with an average expenditure of US$358 and US$333 respectively. This was US$100 more than the regional average.
Brian McGrory, Regional Head, Debit Products, Visa, said: “Duty free shopping can offer great savings on international brands …