As China enters the Year of the Horse, I find myself returning to a symbol once closely associated with China's tourism: Ma Ta Fei Yan, or the "Galloping Horse Treading on a Swallow". It conveys lightness, momentum and a confident movement forward. For the tourism industry, it also captures an aspiration: a sector that is modern, energetic, and capable of achieving "success upon arrival" — not only in bringing visitors in, but in delivering an experience that's worth repeating.

In recent years, "China Travel" has gained global visibility. But the question is not whether people can enter China more easily. Entry into the country is only the beginning. The real test is what happens next: Will visitors stay longer, experience more, spend better, and want to come again?

The year 2025 was a milestone in China's institutional and systemic opening-up in tourism. In international travel, visas and border procedures are the first obstacle. Potential travelers have a simple query: can I get in? Visa facilitation, transit policies and broader measures that make payment and consumption easier have lowered that initial barrier. When the gate is easier to cross, visitors start arriving.

This is why inbound tourism has shown stronger-than-expected growth momentum. But as more travelers arrive, a new challenge becomes decisive: what will they do here, how smoothly can they move around, and how well do we meet their expectations?

First, China must expand what it considers "tourism resources". China's natural landscapes and historical-cultural heritage remain core attractions. But the interests of today's inbound travelers are shifting — especially as more visitors come from the Belt and Road countries and the Global South.

Many travelers are moving from "China Travel" toward "China Shopping". Much like Chinese travelers once sought electronics and fashion in Europe or North America, the shopping lists of inbound tourists now include modern Chinese products. They want to buy consumer electronics such as drones and smartphones and other advanced manufactured goods.

Their preferences have also evolved. Visitors still go to museums and iconic sites, but many now spend more time in open urban districts and everyday public spaces. They are curious about contemporary China: high-speed rail, airports and the practical convenience of modern life. Some want to see advanced manufacturing and major technology firms while others explore medical-related travel. These trends point to a clear direction: inbound tourism should not only "show history", but also present modern life, modern civilization, and real scenes of development.

Second, inbound tourism cannot rely mainly on government promotion. Most visitors need market-based services: tour operators, travel agencies, guides, hotels and homestays, restaurants, and specialized local businesses. The task is to mobilize their initiative and creativity.

Since they interact with tourists daily, tourism businesses and guides are often best positioned to understand what inbound travelers want. They can curate niche experiences — food routes, cycling experiences, specific dining preferences — and turn them into coherent itineraries. By going beyond the standard postcard, visitors can discover "This is also China".

Product building also means strengthening accommodation and vacation facilities. China's lodging options today are far richer than before, with international luxury brands, domestic cultural hotels, homestays, economy hotels and specialized concepts on offer. But this is often under-communicated abroad.

Third, convenience must be end-to-end. Many things that Chinese residents find effortless — mobile payments, digital bookings, facial-recognition gates — can be intimidating for inbound travelers. We should keep improving payment scenarios, multilingual signs and policy communication so that visitors can navigate smoothly.

A practical approach is to build checklists along the visitor's chain of needs: lodging access without hidden barriers, payment that feels simple and secure, connectivity that supports normal online use, and services that reduce friction. Designing such checklists requires listening to travelers' feedback, identifying pain points and then addressing the obstacles they face.

Tourism benefits from online attention, but "viral" is not the whole story. A destination's long-term competitiveness rests on public services, infrastructure, the business environment and the overall civic experience. It is slow, but decisive work. Over-filtered marketing creates disappointment because a glossy "seller's show" becomes a harsh "buyer's show" on arrival. A more sustainable path is to focus on real quality and to make safety non-negotiable: without safety, there is no tourism.

To relieve peak-season pressure points domestically, two levers matter. On the demand side, implementing paid leave more effectively can allow travelers to choose their time of travel and reduce extreme concentration during holidays. On the supply side, China should open more public cultural and civic spaces — museums, galleries, sports venues, university campuses — so that demand is distributed across more options.

If China's tourism is to embody the spirit of the "Flying Horse" in the 15th Five-Year Plan period, openness must be matched by better products, stronger city readiness, and everyday quality so that visitors not only arrive, but also stay, spend, share, and come back.

The author is a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the president of the China Tourism Academy. This is an excerpt of the interview with China Daily reporter Yao Yuxin.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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