Editor's note: Bradley Blankenship is a Prague-based American journalist, political analyst and freelance reporter. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

After several years of border restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 in China, the National Health Commission announced on December 26 that quarantine measures will largely be lifted, starting from January 8, 2023. This will result in a flurry of Chinese tourists leaving their homes to visit previously inaccessible locales abroad. 

According to a CNBC report citing Trip.com Group, a number of countries on the top 10 destinations outside the Chinese mainland are Japan, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, the U.S., Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and UK. But one thing was glaring about this data: No countries from continental Europe were listed, which is striking considering how popular it is with tourists from all over the world. 

Prior to COVID-19, it was routine for the Chinese to visit places, such as France, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. Chinese tourists had constituted a sizable proportion of all international visitors that visited these countries. And that number had increased in the last several decades since China's economic miracle put more money into the hands of the burgeoning Chinese middle class. 

Xinhua journalist Yang Liu noted that at least one of these countries, France, is taking the initiative on Weibo by informing Chinese netizens that "France is welcoming Chinese friends with open arms." But many other countries have halted their visa services in China, which is foolish. Apparently since France has a shared visa regime with 25 other European countries, the Paris' decision to assist Chinese tourists will help these countries as well. Additionally, many countries should court Chinese tourists back on their own merits. 

As someone who has lived in Prague's center for about half a decade, the fewer Chinese visiting has been striking. Before the pandemic, there were massive crowds of Chinese. There were even giant panda mascots for tourists to take pictures with. And even if their kindness and their presence made our country more of a reputable cosmopolitan hub weren't enough, Chinese tourists boosted our local tourist industry. 

According to statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, tourism in Czech Republic accounted for 2.9 percent of GDP in 2017 and employed around 4.5 percent of the workforce (or about 4.5 percent of workers). Travel exports accounted for 24.5 percent of total service exports in 2018 and every year saw millions of international tourists pass through the country, primarily to the capital city, Prague. When the pandemic hit, we can see from World Bank statistics that the tourism industry fell off a cliff and was slow to recover. 

The country's tourism sector may never recover to its pre-pandemic highs without Chinese tourists. And that's especially true for smaller places outside of Prague, such as the South Bohemian town of Cesky Krumlov, which is dubbed, CK Xiaozhen by the Chinese. The "CK" was, prior to COVID-19, heavily marketed in China to the point that the town has signs that can be read in Mandarin. 

Tourism is incredible for people to learn about new cultures, see new places and meet new people that can be very different from themselves. It's also an essential economic engine for some entire countries and smaller towns. European countries should follow in France's footsteps by opening up their visa assistance programs in China to welcome back Chinese tourists "with open arms." 

France is opening its arms and other countries also need to take actions for the sake of tourism development. Or else, that will not only damage European countries by dampening the diversity of the folks who visit but it will hurt continental Europe economically. Let's instead welcome back our Chinese friends to Europe.

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