The World Tourist Organization (UNWTO) is anticipating the full recovery of China's inbound and outbound tourist business because the country is currently a global leader in rural tourism, according to a UNWTO official.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Sandra Calvao, the UNWTO's chief of market intelligence and competitiveness, stated that COVID-19 has accelerated this trend of more people choosing to travel to rural areas to experience nature, eat organic food, and spend peaceful vacations with their families.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created new possibilities for the growth of rural tourism, according to her. "Tourism has a long history of contributing to rural development," she stated.

As a result of spending so much time indoors owing to the epidemic, in Calvao's opinion, individuals are more inclined to vacation outdoors.

The pandemic has also increased domestic tourism, which has caused many people to focus on the countryside in their home nations. We believe that this trend will persist, she added.

The Best Tourism Villages project, which the UNWTO started in 2021 to identify villages throughout the world that are dedicated to creating sustainable tourism, aims to encourage rural tourism. In the previous two years, candidates from China included Yucun in Zhejiang, Xidi in Anhui, Dazhai in Guangxi, and Jingzhu in Chongqing.

Without the support of national policies, Calvao emphasized, villages cannot develop. China is one of the nations that has placed the most emphasis on the role of tourism as a catalyst for rural development and has created specific policies for this purpose.

She stated, "The development of villages is an example of how China uses tourism to benefit individuals who lack access to other development possibilities to better their lives. "We have observed China's assistance to rural areas in critical areas like infrastructure development."

The fact that China has a sizable domestic tourism industry, according to Calvao, "means that there will be enough demand in the tourism market all year round to offer the government the opportunity to establish infrastructure and services, is one of its primary strengths in growing rural tourism. The influx of tourists from abroad will complement this.

International visitor arrivals reached 80% of their pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of this year. Although it has only reached 54%, Asia's recovery has been rather sluggish. According to Calvao, the recovery of tourism in Asia and around the world is greatly impacted by China's reopening as an important outbound market, and its effects will be noticed before the end of this year.

In addition to having a robust economy, she said that China leads the globe in tourism and is the biggest consumer of foreign travel. "China's development is essential to the global travel and tourism sector. Everyone is, in my opinion, excitedly anticipating a rise in Chinese inbound and outbound travel, and many places are anticipating their early return.