STORY: Tourism Australia greets 1st Chinese tour group of China's Golden Week
DATELINE: Sept. 30, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:38
LOCATION: Sydney
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of visitors in Australia
2. SOUNDBITE (English): PHILLIPA HARRISON, Managing director of Tourism Australia

STORYLINE:

Tourism Australia, the country's governmental tourism promotion body, greeted on Friday the first Chinese tourist group that arrived in Sydney during China's National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Tourism Australia staged a warm welcoming ceremony at the Sydney international airport. Managing Director of Tourism Australia Phillipa Harrison gave each group member a stuffed toy "souvenir kangaroo Ruby" as a present, and wished them a happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

SOUNDBITE (English): PHILLIPA HARRISON, Managing director of Tourism Australia
"So we are ready for the Chinese market to come back and we can't wait to welcome them. We have seen a steady increase in numbers from the China market. We anticipate that we'll be back to pre-COVID levels by sometime in 2024. And I can tell you that the Australian tourism industry has been waiting for this moment. The Australian tourism industry is ready to welcome Chinese travelers back to Australia."

China was the most valuable inbound traveler market for the Australian visitor economy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Statistics show that Australia recorded 150,390 short-term visitor arrivals from the Chinese mainland in July 2019, and the number was 79,040 in July 2023.  

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Sydney.
(XHTV)