ඔක්ටෝබර්ෆෙස්ට් සැනකෙළියට වැඩි වැඩියෙන් චීන ජාතිකයන් එක්වේ

Oktoberfest attracts more Chinese tourists to Germany

With the National Day holiday underway from Oct 1 to 7, global tourist attractions are seeing a larger influx of Chinese visitors, including the world-famous Oktoberfest in Germany.

The world's largest beer festival draws in more than 6 million people annually from all over the world. According to travel agencies, more and more of these people are from China, such as Du Chuan and Shen Bing who came from southwest China's Guizhou Province.

"We learned about Oktoberfest long time ago. We love German culture. It's our first time to come to Germany. We're here to visit our friends and family on the one hand, and on the other hand to understand what are the differences between Germany and China," said Shen.

"We'll tell our friends the history and culture of Oktoberfest when we are back. We'll also tell our friends the Germans' love and hospitality towards friends from all over the world," said Du.

According to Germany's national tourist board, arrivals from China have been steadily increasing since long-haul flights resumed after the COVID-19 pandemic, with Munich and Bavaria being the top choice for overnight stays.

But those numbers are still only half of the 2019 figures and many beer tents at Oktoberfest are still noticing their absence.

"We had a lot of Chinese tourists, visitors, guests here. Fantastic. You often recognized them. They're in a good mood, funny. But since the pandemic, I noticed it during the pandemic. It's decreased. Now I notice a gap in Chinese guests. There's a shortcoming there," said Gerd Laumer, managing director of Hacker Festzelt.

A change at this year's event is the increase in security measures following a series of violent incidents in Germany, including a deadly knife attack at a public festival in the city of Solingen in August.

The Oktoberfest opened on Sept 21 and will run through Oct 6.

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