New data from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) show that outbound travel from mainland China fell below 2000 level in 2021, and caution on the part of the Chinese government over the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is likely to suppress recovery of outbound numbers in 2022.

Only 8.5M travelers - fewer than 5% of the pre-pandemic 2019 figure - left China in 2021, vs. 10M in 2000.

Chinese officials are concerned that increased international travel could expose the country's population to the very transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19, from which they have so far largely been protected by stringent domestic travel controls.