Nearly all tourists stranded abroad due to epidemic are back home

The Chinese government has brought home nearly all tourists who were once stranded abroad due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, a senior official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Wednesday.

There were about 250,000 Chinese tourists in group tours abroad on Jan 24 when the ministry suspended group tour businesses.

Thanks to support from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Civil Aviation Administration and Customs, the ministry has arranged for almost all of the stranded tourists to return home safely, said Liu Kezhi, chief of the ministry's Market Regulation Department, at a news conference.

Less than 90 of these tourists were still abroad by Tuesday, he said.

"The tourists stranded abroad were facing both economic pressure and mental stress. We tried our best to help all of them come back. What we have in mind is that wherever you are, the motherland is always standing behind you," Liu said.

Since the World Health Organization declared the virus in China a global health emergency at the end of January, most countries canceled their flights to and from China, leaving hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists stranded abroad.

Liu said the ministry immediately started collecting information on tour groups abroad and asked them to contact local embassies and consulates. The information was provided to customs authorities to assist with tourists' entry and quarantine work. The civil aviation administration helped in arranging chartered flights.