European countries have loosened visa requirements, are offering best travel packages, and unrolling their red carpets in an attempt to lure more tourists to visit Europe this year, tourism experts said.

And Europe's efforts will not be put to waste as according to the China Tourism Academy (CTA) the number of Chinese tourists that will visit Europe this year is expected to more than double from last year's 3.5 million.

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CTA Professor Yang Jingson said European countries have been among the top destinations for Chinese tourists and the different government initiatives, including the relaxing of visa application procedures, will surely entice more wealthy Chinese to choose Europe this year.

"We expect growth to be double-digit this year," said Yang, as he noted that many countries in Europe have removed the obstacles in securing visas.

France, for instance, announced that it has trimmed the visa application process for Chinese applicants with the aim of luring more tourists.

France has cut the processing of travel documents from 10 working days to no more than 2 days. Jacques Pellet of the French Embassy in China added that Chinese applicants will now be exempted from providing English and French translations of their documents, except for the certificate of employment.

Belgium and Italy have also streamlined their procedures for Chinese tourists applying for visa.

As more than 100 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel abroad this year, Yang said it has become a general trend for countries in Europe to loosen their visa policies in order to get a huge share of China's outbound tourism market.