The epidemic has swept the world for more than two years, and many countries and regions have been turned on and off.
Immigration consulting firm "Henley & Partners" released the Henley Passport Index for the third quarter of this year. Hong Kong continues to hold the 18th position with 171 visa-free locations, while Japan ranks 193 countries with a record high of 193. Visa-free or visa-on-arrival continues to top the list, followed by Singapore and South Korea.
The report mentioned that the top three countries are all located in the Asia-Pacific region and have been able to freely enter and exit nearly 200 regions in the past, describing the freedom of the passports of the three countries as "unprecedented" and "unmatched" However, the international passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region has only reached 17% of the pre-pandemic level, and has fallen below the 10% mark in the past two years, criticizing the world's "strongest passport" for having the least freedom of travel.
▼The latest ranking of some passports▼
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Henley Passport Index counts the number of visa-free and visa-on-arrival passports for 199 passports based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). In the third quarter of this year, Japan climbed over Singapore with 193 countries visa-free or visa-on-arrival, and continues to be the "strongest passport" .
South Korea has added two visa-free countries compared to the beginning of this year, tying Singapore and ranking second; Germany and Spain, which come in third, also enjoy visa-free or visa-on-arrival treatment for 190 countries and regions; while British passports are With 187 countries and regions visa-free treatment, it is tied for sixth with Ireland, France, and Portugal; the United States maintains 186 visa-free countries, dropping one level to seventh.
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Although Hong Kong has not yet opened to the public, the SAR passport remains the same as in the first quarter of this year, ranking 18th with 171 visa-free locations, while Macau ranks 35th with Ukraine with 144 visa-free countries, which is higher than that in the first quarter of this year. Down two places; China's visa-free regions or countries remained at 80, but under the "no advance or retreat", China's ranking dropped four places in a row to 69th, tied with Bolivia in South America.
Ranked 112, the “tail” continues to be war-torn Afghanistan, but the number of visa-free regions or countries has increased by one to 27 compared with the beginning of this year; The number of locations has also increased by one to 29 from the beginning of this year.
▼The Hong Kong government will lift entry restrictions on non-Hong Kong residents from May 1▼
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The report also mentioned that although Japan ranks first with a record-breaking 193 destinations, Singapore and South Korea are tied for second place. In the past 17 years, these three countries have unmatched and unprecedented global travel treatment. However, the current international passenger demand in the Asia-Pacific region has only reached 17% of the pre-pandemic level, and has fallen below the pre-pandemic level of 10% in the past two years.
The report pointed out that the relevant data is far below the global trend, and the international passenger traffic in Europe and the United States has returned to 60% of the pre-epidemic level.
However, the report is not discouraged by this phenomenon, and boldly predicts that the number of global passengers will rebound to 83% of the pre-epidemic level within this year, and most markets will be able to match or even surpass the pre-epidemic level until 2024. Any industry can do that.
▼On June 22, Hong Kong's first Japanese tour group set off under the epidemic▼
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▼The epidemic lasted for more than two years, and the airport was full of passenger planes▼
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