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China begins direct flights to Israel
September 26, 2018, 5:43 pm

In 2017, there were some 130 million Chinese tourists traveling all over the world [Archive]


The first commercial air link between China and Israel opened to passenger traffic on Wednesday when Sichuan Airlines inaugurated its first direct 10-hour flight to Israel from Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province to Tel Aviv.

The flight scheduled for every Sunday and Wednesday, will employ the Airbus A330 aircraft and is expected to meet demands of the ever-growing Chinese overseas tourism market.

Chinese tourists have been the fastest growing number of global travelers in the past 10 years.

According to the UN’s World Tourism Organization, 131 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad, marking a 7 per cent increase from 2016. Their travels boosted global tourism revenues by $258 billion, making Chinese tourism a far more formidable market that American, French, German and UK tourists.

By comparison, in 2013, there were only 97 million Chinese global tourists – a number itself rising from 14 million in 2012, according to China’s National Tourism Administration.

In Israel alone there were over 110,000 Chinese visitors in 2017, up 45 per cent from 2016.

Amir Lati, consul general of Israel in Chengdu, told the Xinhua news agency that “the direct flight will not only bring about booming tourism, but will also serve as a catalyst for full cooperation between the two countries”.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies