Why not accept foreign tourists in China

When the Australian tourist Alice Jiao booked a hotel in Nanjing, a city in East China, she checked the online list to ensure that the foreign guests accepted before reserving her accommodation.

But when Mrs. Jiao arrived in the Nanjing Rest Yizhi Hotel in February, the hotel staff told that she could not stay there because the hotel only accepted foreigners with a Chinese permanent residence card.

Exhausted by travel, the unexpected rejection of Mrs. Jiao felt anxious.

“Of course it felt bad luck to meet something like that,” she said.

A year after the Chinese authorities had ordered hotels in China to accept all foreign tourists in an attempt to stimulate incoming tourism, some hotels continue to put international travelers away.

Many tourists are to social media platforms such as Reddit and Xiaohongshu, also known as Rednote, to share their experiences and to express their frustration.

Other travelers from countries such as Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and Russia have left reviews on platforms such as Booking.com and warned other tourists not to repeat their mistakes.

The experiences of the tourists come when Chinese authorities try to rejuvenate the tourism sector with a series of measures, including Visa rules for illuminating foreign tourists, including Australians.

Relaxing tourist visa rules have been very effective – in 2024 the country registered 131.9 million incoming visits, an increase of 61 percent in the number of visitors compared to the previous year, according to a report from the China Tourism Academy.

Disconnect policy and practice

Mrs. Jiao booked her stay by Meitan, a popular Chinese super-app that offers a range of services, including food delivery and hotel and ticket booking.

Nanjing Rest Yizhi Hotel apologized to Mrs. Jiao and offered her a refund, but the list on the booking site continues to show that the hotel accepts foreign guests.

A hotel employee told the ABC that the hotel’s policy was in accordance with the local police rules, who can only accept small hotels with a permanent resident card, called a five -star card, in China.

“Larger hotels can bring passport holders. We are a cheap hotel,” they said.

According to the Chinese exit and access law, hotels must register foreign guests and report their information to the local police.

Foreigners who stay outside of hotels must register with the local police within 24 hours, either by themselves or through their hosts.

The Chinese law also needed hotels to obtain special licenses for international tourists and travelers from Hong Kong and Macau.

But this rule was gradually relaxed and officially demolished in May 2024 as part of the reforms of China Post-Pandemic Tourism.

The joint notification of May of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Trade and National Immigration Administration said that hotels should not refuse foreign guests under the excuse for the lack of foreign related licenses.

Sam Huang, a tourism researcher at Edith Cowan University, said that current government policy was more a guideline than a mandate and was not maintained by some local authorities.

“In practice, the policy of the central government does not always come into line with how local authorities regulate hotels,” Dr. Huang from, who worked at the Chinese National Tourism Administration.

Smaller, independent budget hotels were used to serving local Chinese travelers and often struggled to accommodate international tourists due to language barriers and outdated systems that have difficulty registering foreign passports.

Hotels need clearer advertisements

The Malaysian tourist Emily Qin was also beaten back from a hotel in China in January.

Mrs. Qin booked the Royal International Apartment, near a large airport in Guangzhou, via Meitan but was rejected when checking in.

“[It was] My first shocking booking experience of 2025, “she said.

Mrs. Qin explained that there was nothing on the hotel list about foreign tourists, and said that hotels should clearly mention in which guests they accepted.

Mrs. Qin said that the hotel policy could be a “big problem” for older travelers and young families.

When Mrs. Qin initially asked for a reimbursement, the hotel told her to ask through Meitan.

But after a dispute, she immediately won a complete repayment of the hotel.

An employee of the Royal International Apartment said the ABC that it had always declared his policy with regard to foreign guests on Meitan since it opened.

But Mrs. Qin insisted that she did not see the note when she booked.

Meitan did not respond to ABC’s request for comments regarding both the experiences of Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Jiao.

Call to confirm the booking

The ABC found several hotel lists on online platforms, including Meitan, Ctrip, Trip.com and Qunar, which stated that they only accepted guests with a valid resident identity card, an ID for Chinese citizens of the mainland.

Often the same entries on worldwide platforms such as Booking.com did not have that information.

On Trip.com, for example, the 7 -Days Premium Chengdu Giant Panda Base Hotel said it only accepted guests with a resident identity card, but the same list on Booking.com has not included this information.

When the ABC called Premium Chengdu for 7 days to ask for the discrepancy, a reception staff said that they were not aware of the list on Booking.com.

The ABC contacted Boooking.com for comments.

Mingming Cheng, a marketing professor at the University of Curtin, said that the discrepancy in information between worldwide platforms and local hotels was common.

“Local Chinese online travel agencies integrate better with domestic hotel systems,” said Dr. Cheng.

“But many hotels do not understand what information international platforms need. There are also translation errors.”

In Xi’an, an important tourist city in China, there are at least 52 hotels within 500 meters from the popular Grand Tang Dynasty once Bright City.

Only 15 hotels accept foreign guests, and only two are budget hotels, according to an ABC analysis of hotels -listings on Ctrip.

Travel agency De China Guide suggested that foreign tourists would choose a hotel that had rated at least four stars because they usually have more experience with international guests.

For smaller or budget hotels, the Bureau reading lists and assessments carefully ordered and called ahead to confirm.

Travelers who are rejected by the hotel can also refer the hotel to the government’s notification that they must accept foreign tourists.

In some cases they could call the police for help, although this can cause further delays or discomfort, the travel agency said.

Dr. Cheng said that Chinese authorities and industrial groups must encourage hotels to follow a more hospitable approach to foreign guests.

He said that small hotels need financial support and training to better accommodate international travelers.

“Chinese hotels need a cultural shift such as during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing – to treat foreign visitors as welcome guests, not as a burden,” he said.

The ABC contacted the Chinese government for this story, but received no response.