Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, began a 72-hour visa-free policy for transit passengers on Oct 1, Spring City Evening News reported.

Visitors from 37 European countries, six American countries, six Asian countries and two Oceania countries benefit from the new policy.

Whether the tourism industry warms up with the launch of the visa-free policy depends on the supporting flight service products. The Kunming tourism development committee and Kunming Changshui International Airport signed the strategic cooperation agreement to jointly produce flight service products for visa-free transit tourists. The local government will cooperate with the flight companies, scenic spots, tourism companies and hotels to produce more tourism products for transit passengers.

“The visa-free transit procedure doesn’t take much time,” said a staff member from Kunming Changshui International Airport. Passengers only need to submit the application form to flight companies, and the flight companies will go through the following formalities by connecting with the entry and exit administration bureau.

“We have set the special channel and information desk to help passengers get the 72-hour visa-free permit,” the staff member added. Also, the special channel will be adjusted in terms of the number of applications to ensure that all the passengers can get the permit easily.

The visa-free transit policy has been launched for a half-month and no passenger has applied for the visa-free permit to date. A staff member from Kunming Changshui International Airport said that it’s because the 72-hour visa-free policy is a new policy and some of the foreign passengers don’t know about it. It requires strengthening of publicity work.

In regard to the flight routes, Kunming Changshui International Airport is the connection point of China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. By August, passengers were able to travel from Kunming Changshui International Airport to 130 destinations, including 29 cities abroad and four regions. In 2013, Yunnan received 5.33 million foreign visitors. In the first half of 2014, Yunnan received 4.96 million foreign visitors with foreign currency earnings of $1.18 billion.

Special channel for visa-free transit passengers [Photo/Xinhua]

By Ge Jieru and edited by Michael Thai