In China, travel fears remain as ‘Zero-Covid’ emerges | Business and economy

Beijing, China – Zhou Jing, a 36-year-old business owner in China’s Hebei province, is relieved that Beijing is beginning to reverse its draconian “zero-Covid” policy.

After taking strict precautions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 for the past three years, Zhou finally reported cases of the virus nationwide earlier this month.

Unlike millions of Chinese affected by the outbreak earlier, Zhou was able to recover at home instead of in an isolation facility.

Earlier this month, Beijing announced it would “reform” its COVID policies by allowing mild cases to be isolated at home, as well as limiting lockdowns, scrapping mass testing and lifting restrictions on domestic travel.

Zhu was happy to be able to cope with the disease surrounded by loved ones and happy to know that in the future she will not be limited from doing everyday tasks like going to the supermarket.

Still, Zhou, who runs a small travel agency, is unlikely to travel beyond her home anytime soon.

For Zhou, international travel — something she did at least twice a year before 2020 — is off the table for the foreseeable future because of the virus, even if borders reopen in the coming weeks or months.

“Now I know you can get Covid-19 anywhere, but at least here in China, I will be with my family,” Zhou told Al Jazeera. Here, the current variant [Omicron] It seems more stable. I fear that the virus may change if I go abroad.

Zhou is not alone in her fear.

A survey of 4,000 Chinese consumers conducted in late October by consultancy Oliver Wyman cited more than half of them planning to stop traveling abroad even if borders reopen tomorrow as a top concern.

“People have become cautious,” Imke Waters, a retail and consumer goods partner at the consultancy, told Reuters news agency. “So even when they can travel, we don’t think they’ll come back right away.”

Such disruptions could be a challenge for the global tourism market, which has yet to recover from the pandemic, which has been held back by China’s ongoing border closures. The people of China In 2018, $288 billion was spent on international travel, nearly a quarter of all tourism spending.

Other evidence suggests that the Chinese may be eager to travel as long as restrictions on entry and exit are lifted.

Dragon Trail International, which focuses on China’s outbound travel market, conducted a survey of 1,003 people on the mainland between November 7 and 20, and found that more than half would go abroad within a year of reopening.

That survey found that, rather than fear of the virus, “isolation, strict policies and discomfort” were the biggest barriers to travel, with 60 percent of respondents saying they hoped isolation would ease upon arrival.

Lily Zhang, a small business owner in Tianjin, said she is ready to travel abroad alone and do business with international clients in 2023. But she is confident that she will be able to travel with her family, especially since her husband has returned to another country. Tianjin last month after being detained in the Philippines for almost three years.

“I don’t mind being hit by Covid-19 anymore, even though I’m from abroad,” Zhang told Al Jazeera. “But if our children get sick, it will be difficult because it will be an additional responsibility. We hope to clarify the rules so that we can decide to travel as a family.”

Simon He, a graduate student in Denmark, said he decided to return to China for an exchange program in Shanghai in January; Despite these obstacles, they are kept in quarantine for eight days upon arrival.

After contracting Covid-19 in October, he is confident he can manage the disease at home and looks forward to traveling next year.

“Getting Covid-19 is inevitable,” he said. “Even though matters may reach a peak during the Spring Festival, I believe things will get better. After that, I intend to travel further.”

For some Chinese, domestic travel can be a substitute for a foreign vacation.

“The recent lifting of restrictions around domestic travel in China bodes well for the recovery of Chinese domestic tourism in the coming months and beyond,” said Sienna Paroulis-Cook, director of marketing and communications for Dragon Trail.

Parulis-Cook said Hainan could come back as a domestic destination, such as Zhangjiakou, Chongli and other popular “winter tourism” areas, although “there is no destination [is] Prevention” from the potential consequences of re-implementation of stricter policies.

But travel agency operator Josie Chen expects domestic tourism, especially high-end luxury hotels and ski resorts, to become more popular from 2023 because “more Chinese are eager to go out.” According to the company’s data, most Chinese people travel to European or North American countries to buy luxury goods.

“Everyone is hoping that the borders will open soon, but somehow this is not good for our business,” Chen told Al Jazeera. “Domestic travel agencies need to explore the market and change our business model if we are to survive another year.”

Paroulis-Cook believes that expectations for domestic and foreign travel in China will “adjust accordingly.”

“Now the messaging from officials and the media in China, emphasizing that COVID-19 is actually a very mild illness, should go a long way to allaying any virus-related fears about going out,” he said.

Both Chen and Parulis-Cook said Hong Kong is the first choice of Chinese travelers to meet.

China’s border with Hong Kong has been effectively closed since early 2020, although the Asian financial hub last week lifted a three-day observation period during which international migrants were barred from bars and restaurants.

According to Chen, Southeast Asian countries will see a large influx of Chinese travelers next year.

Paroulis-Cook said she expects the five-day Labor Day holiday in April and May to be the first peak season for outings.

Still, Zhou feels that it is not the right time to travel until the coronavirus is “globally weakened or contained.”

“Many young people who haven’t traveled for a few years are eager to get out,” Zhou said. But the biggest worry is when you get sick after going out. They can come back with a very extreme difference, and that creates more problems for everyone.

For others like Zhang, life must go on.

“I don’t want Covid-19 to bother me,” Zhang said, adding that she hopes Chinese people will learn to live with the virus. “I just ignored him. My life is not just about the pandemic.