Nanjing Has Received the Largest Inbound Tour Group from Europe Since 2020

3月31日晚，

On the evening of March 31,

一个由31名德国游客组成的旅行团来到南京，

a tour group consisting of 31 German tourists arrived in Nanjing

踏上古都赏春之旅，

to go on a spring tour in this ancient capital of China.

这也是我市自2020年以来，

It has also been the largest inbound tour group from Europe

接待的最大规模的欧洲入境旅游团。

that Nanjing has received since 2020.

“Sehr schön！（非常漂亮）”当天21:30，这群德国游客乘坐秦淮画舫，船游秦淮河东五华里航线，看着两岸流光溢彩的秦淮灯彩，脚下波光粼粼的秦淮河，他们十分兴奋，连声赞叹。

“Sehr schön (so beautiful)! At 21:30 on the day they arrived, those German tourists took the Qinhuai River Painted Boat along the 2500-meter route east of the Qinhuai River. Watching the colorful Qinhuai lights on both sides of the bank and the sparkling Qinhuai River at their feet, they felt very excited and gave out spontaneous cheers.

“南京夜晚的灯光和亮化非常美丽，令我印象深刻。南京这次对我们的接待也非常周到。这不仅仅是我一个人的感受，而是我们全团游客的心声。”德国游客保罗•海克说。

“I am so deeply impressed by the extremely beautiful lights and lighting environment of Nanjing at night. I would also like to thank Nanjing for its thoughtful hospitality. This is not only my personal feeling, but the voice of the entire tour group.” said Paul, a German tourist.

“这个团有25名游客超过60岁。在南京停留的2天1夜，客人们将游秦淮河、观明孝陵、登城墙、赏非遗、品美食……充分体会古都南京的厚重历史文化底蕴和现代时尚气息。”该团地接社中国国旅（江苏）入境中心总经理周焱说，在第二天的行程中，客人们可以在城墙上Citywalk，在“我爱南京”打卡框拍照留念，还将有机会体验剪纸、抖空竹等南京特色非遗项目，欣赏越剧表演，与越剧演员零距离交流。

“ There are 25 tourists aged over 60 in this group. During their stay for two days and one night in Nanjing, they visited the Qinhuai River, the Ming Tomb Scenic Area, and the Ming City Wall, experienced local intangible cultural heritage, and tasted delicious food... They were offered the chance to fully appreciate the profound cultural and historical heritage as well as the modern fashion style of this ancient city.” said Zhou Yan, general manager of the Inbound Center of China International Travel Service (Jiangsu), the local travel agency receiving the group. On the second day, the tourists were arranged to go to a citywalk on the Ming City Wall, take photos with the “I Love Nanjing” photo-taking box, experience Nanjing’s characteristic intangible cultural heritage such as paper-cutting and Chinese yo-yo, watch Yueju opera performances, and conduct close exchanges with Yueju opera actors.

去年11月，中国决定试行扩大单方面免签国家范围，对德国等6个国家持普通护照人员试行单方面免签政策。2023年12月1日至2024年11月30日期间，上述国家持普通护照人员来华经商、旅游观光、探亲访友和过境不超过15天，可免签入境。此举一出，旅行社纷纷表示“喜迎利好”，加快了组织德国入境团来宁的步伐。

In November last year, China decided to expand the scope of unilateral visa-free countries on a trial basis to holders of ordinary passports from six countries including Germany. From December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024, ordinary passport holders from the above countries who come to China for business, tourism, visiting relatives and friends, and transit for no more than 15 days can enter China without a visa. After this favorable policy was introduced, local travel agencies sped up their efforts to organize German inbound groups to visit Nanjing.

此次来宁的31人德国旅行团，是2020年以来我市接待的最大欧洲入境团。“对于德国游客来说，南京是一个既拥有悠久历史文化又具备优质自然景观的古都，可看的东西很多，在南京游览体验的整体感受也很好。”周焱介绍，从去年第四季度开始，他们已陆续接待了多批次的德国入境旅行团，这其中既包括满足个性化需求的商务团、私人定制团、小包团，也有由德国旅行商组团前来的旅行团，在南京停留1夜或2夜。

This 31-person German tour group was the largest inbound tour group from Europe that Nanjing had received since 2020. “For German tourists, Nanjing is an ancient capital with both an abundance of historical and cultural heritage and high-quality natural landscapes. In addition to the wide options of tourist sites, the city also provides an excellent tourism experience on the whole.” Zhou Yan said that they had received a large number of inbound tour groups from Germany since the fourth quarter of last year, including business groups, private customized tour groups, and small package tour groups that had individualized demands, as well as tour groups organized by German travel agencies. Those tour groups stayed in Nanjing for 1 or 2 nights.

此次组团来宁的Trendtours是德国知名的中国旅游线路批发商。该旅游公司于去年应江苏（南京）欧洲德语区推广中心邀请来宁踩线并与南京入境旅行社座谈后，对南京的旅游资源和产品十分认可，随即着手策划南京相关系列团产品。此次来宁团组，也是该公司今年新推出含南京行程系列团的首团，全年计划发团50个，目前已排期至5月份。

This group tour was organized by Trendtours, a well-known German wholesaler of Chinese travel routes. At the invitation of the Jiangsu (Nanjing) European German-speaking Area Promotion Center, Trendtours visited Nanjing last year and had discussions with Nanjing inbound travel agencies. Highly recognizing Nanjing’s tourism resources and products, it immediately started planning Nanjing-related group tour products. This group tour was the first Nanjing-related tour product launched by the company this year. It plans to organize 50 group tours throughout the year and the schedule is currently packed full until May.

记者从南京市文旅局获悉，一直以来，德国稳居南京欧洲入境客源市场的首位，南京一贯重视在德国及德语区市场的深耕推广。今年初，南京市文旅局正式恢复欧洲德语区推广中心项目。3月5日—7日，南京文旅欧洲德语区推广中心代表南京参加了全球最大旅游交易展——德国柏林国际旅游交易展（ITB）。3月7日，推广中心联合德国重要媒体组织——德国旅游记者协会（VDRJ），在其举办的2024年VDRJ媒体颁奖典礼早餐会上，向48位媒体代表推介南京旅游。

The reporter learned from Nanjing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau that, Germany has been the largest source of European inbound tourists visiting Nanjing, and Nanjing has always attached great importance to in-depth promotion in Germany and German-speaking areas. At the beginning of this year, Nanjing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau officially resumed the European German-speaking Area Promotion Center project. On March 5-7, the center participated in the International Tourism Exchange (ITB), the world’s largest tourism trade fair, in Berlin, Germany on behalf of Nanjing. On March 7, the center and the German Association for Travel Writers (Vereinigung Deutscher Reisejournalisten, VDRJ), an important German media organization, jointly promoted Nanjing tourism to 48 media representatives at the 2024 Media Awards Breakfast held by VDRJ.

南京市文旅局对外交流与合作处负责人李佳说，去年以来，中国积极向多国开放免签，入境游利好不断。随着免签“朋友圈”逐渐扩大，南京入境旅游显著升温。今年1—2月份，南京接待了入境过夜旅游者5.15万人次，比去年同期增长了112.3%，应该说这个数据还是非常可喜的。

Li Jia, Director of Foreign Exchange and Cooperation Division of Nanjing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, said that China had actively offered visa-free travel to nationals from many countries, which has continuously boosted inbound tourism. With the gradual expansion of the visa-free “ circle of friends”, Nanjing has witnessed significant improvement in its inbound tourism. From January to February this year, Nanjing received 51,500 inbound overnight tourists, with a year-on-year increase of 112.3%, which is very good news for Nanjing.

来源：南京日报

翻译：东方翻译院