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the 2024 beijing summit of the forum on china-africa cooperation was held from september 4 to 6. the summit adopted the forum on china-africa cooperation-beijing action plan (2025-2027), which involves many cultural and tourism-related contents.it was clearly stated that china supports all african countries with which it has diplomatic ties with china to become destinations for group outbound tourism for chinese citizens.

01

africa is rich in tourism resources

africa (english: africa), full name africa, is located in the western part of the eastern hemisphere, south of europe and west of asia. it borders the indian ocean to the east and the atlantic ocean to the west, spanning the equator from north to south. it covers an area of ​​approximately 30.2 million square kilometers (land area), accounting for 20.4% of the world's total land area. it is the second largest continent in the world. according to the latest statistics, africa's population exceeds 1.4 billion, accounting for about one-sixth of the world's population.

africa's tourism resources include wildlife reserves, natural scenic spots, cultural heritage, etc.the attraction of traveling to africa mainly lies in returning to nature and exploring the unknown.

specifically,the main attractions of north africa are humanities, history and desert scenery: in egypt, you can explore ancient sites or take a seaside vacation; morocco has diverse cultures and the sahara desert. the main features of east africa are wildness and nature: watching the stunning animal migration in kenya and tanzania is one of the most popular tourist projects for chinese tourists. the main feature of south africa is quality leisure travel: south africa is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with both beautiful coastal scenery and inland customs, as well as mountains, meadows, deserts and other landforms, and rich and diverse natural scenery.south africa alone and south africa + zambia + zimbabwe + kenya four-country tour are currently the most popular african tours.

african elephant migration source: photo network

02

tripthe prospects for exchanges and cooperation between the two sides are good

on september 5, it was announced at the opening ceremony of the beijing summit of the forum on china-africa cooperation thatchina's bilateral relations with all african countries with which it has diplomatic ties have been elevated to the level of strategic relations, and the overall positioning of china-africa relations has been elevated to the all-weather china-africa community with a shared future in the new era.

ruins of carthage in tunisia source: photo network

since the belt and road initiative was proposed, african countries have actively participated in it. at present, 52 african countries and the african union commission have signed cooperation documents with china on the belt and road initiative. over the past 10 years, the belt and road initiative has flourished and achieved fruitful results. a beautiful picture of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between china and africa has been unfolding slowly in africa.

data shows that in 2023, china-africa trade volume reached us$282.1 billion, setting a new historical peak for the second consecutive year, the trade volume between china and nearly half of african countries increased by more than double digits year-on-year, reflecting the strong resilience and sufficient vitality of china-africa trade. in the first seven months of this year, the import and export volume between china and africa reached 1.19 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%.

in recent years, tourism popularity in africa has continued to rise, making it a popular destination for chinese outbound tourists.according to ctrip data, from february to august this year, the number of orders from chinese tourists to africa increased by about 1.2 times year-on-year. according to statistics from the travel service platform fliggy, the number of air ticket bookings to africa this year has nearly doubled compared with the same period last year, with egypt and kenya growing the fastest, reaching 236% and 167% respectively. shanghai, beijing, guangzhou, hangzhou, chengdu, nanjing, chongqing, xi'an, xiamen, qingdao and other cities are popular source cities for tourists to africa. according to qunar data, this summer, the number of air ticket bookings from chinese tourists to africa increased by 1.2 times year-on-year.according to a relevant person in charge of tongcheng travel, from january to august this year, the average monthly number of tourists traveling to egypt increased by 200% compared with the same period last year.

egypt's world heritage abu simbel temple source: photo network

03

take a trip on your own terms

according to the forum on china-africa cooperation beijing action plan (2025-2027) adopted at the 2024 beijing summit of the forum on china-africa cooperation,china supports all african countries with which it has diplomatic ties with china to become destinations for group outbound tourism for chinese citizens.

in other words, traveling to africa is mainly done in groups. some people may ask, can one person form a group? the answer is of course yes, but since it is a group tour, the tour operator has to send a leader and the local agency has to send a tour guide, so the cost will naturally be higher.

data from the fliggy platform shows that small groups with less than 10 people, private groups and chartered tours are growing rapidly.group tours to multiple destinations in egypt, group tours to the great migration of kenya, and one-day tours to casablanca are hot-selling products in africa. domestic tour operators have launched a series of "morocco + tunisia" and "morocco + spain + portugal" combination products. during the trip, tourists can not only appreciate the unique cultural landscape of north africa, but also stay in a desert tent hotel.

morocco chefchaouen blue and white town source: photo network

data released by ctrip shows that the african countries most visited by chinese tourists are egypt, south africa, morocco, kenya, tanzania, nigeria, ethiopia, tunisia, mauritius, ghana, etc. the most popular attractions are the pyramid of khufu, the egyptian museum, the giza pyramids, the sahara desert, the abu simbel temple, the saladin castle, the majorelle gardens, the casela nature park, and the old town of essaouira.

according to industry insiders,compared with before, chinese tourists' trips to africa are now more diverse and in-depth.in terms of destinations, it has expanded from the traditional south africa, kenya, and egypt to morocco, tunisia, namibia, botswana, zimbabwe, namibia, and then to madagascar, seychelles, mauritius, etc.

egyptian museum photo source: photo network

in terms of travel experience, the duration of the tour has been extended from 8-10 days to 14-18 days. visitors can not only visit the depths of the national park, but also try wild camping, yachting, off-road sand bashing, etc. in addition,long-distance cruises and island tours have become a new way for chinese tourists to vacation in africa.in the first half of this year, the registrations for these two types of products increased by 100% compared with the same period last year."

the author believes that africa has great development potential as an outbound tourism destination. with the steady development of china-africa cooperation, tourism will become an important part of china-africa cultural exchanges, playing a positive role in strengthening personnel exchanges, enhancing mutual understanding and friendship, building harmonious relations, and promoting economic and social prosperity and development.(the author is the former director of the supervision and management department of the national tourism administration)