New Trends

By+Lan+Xinzhen

As of January 3， the Republic of Vanuatu had simplified the visa application process for visitors from China. Holders of ordinary Chinese passports no longer need to go to the embassy of Vanuatu and only need to fill in an online visa application form and send photos of passports and identification cards to the embassy of Vanuatu via e-mail. The embassy will send scanned visas to the applicants within five working days.

Vanuatu is the latest country after the United States， Canada， the United Kingdom， Australia， New Zealand and South Korea that， since 2013， have hoped to attract more Chinese tourists by simplifying their visa application processes. Consumption growth arising from Chinese tourists is the major reason.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences（CASS） published the Tourism Green Paper 2013-14 on January 8， saying that Chinas outbound tourism market has grown rapidly in recent years， but the inbound tourism market has shrunk. “Behind this change is the redirection of global consumption forces，” said Wu Jinmei， deputy editor in chief of the green paper and a researcher with the CASS.

Growing outbound travel

According to the green paper， in recent years， Chinas outbound travel has increased very rapidly. In 2000， 10 million passengers traveled abroad； in 2013， that figure hit 97.3 million. It is estimated that more than 100 million Chinese will travel abroad in 2014.

As more Chinese travel abroad， their consumption in foreign countries has also soared. In 2013， outbound Chinese travelers spent a total of $102 billion， ranking first in the world， said the green paper.

Wu said for the growing outbound travel by Chinese， signboards and tour guides in the Chinese language can now be seen in many world famous shops.

Wu thinks the spending boom by Chinese visitors abroad can be attributed to various factors. For most Chinese people， outbound travel is not typical. Once they have the opportunity to travel abroad， many will buy consumer items that can be used for several years. Another reason is that Chinas tariff rates on imported goods are still too high， making Chinese people more willing to spend in foreign countries.

“We hope Chinese people can spend in a more sensible way. Of course， we also expect steady， sustainable and sound development of outbound travel and overseas consumption in this stage，” said Wu.

Many countries in the world are competing to attract Chinese tourists in various ways， taking measures such as simplifying their visa application processes and investing heavily in promoting themselves in the Chinese market. Hotels， tourist attractions and shops in these countries all consider Chinese tourists as increasingly important customers.endprint

Song Rui， Director of the Tourist Research Center of the CASS， said that more and more young Chinese tourists are going abroad—they tend to be more independent， know more about foreign customs and are more willing to integrate with local cultures.

One thing should not be ignored. In 2013，the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Japan declined sharply， but travel to Russia soared. According to Wu， this sharp contrast is closely related to political reasons. This has directly affected tourism revenues in the two countries. While outbound travel by Chinese is growing， political factors have dramatically influenced Chinese touristschoice of outbound travel.

Changing domestic travel

According to the green paper， Chinese tourists made a total of 3.58 billion domestic trips， up by 10 percent from the previous year. Revenue from domestic travel grew by 12 percent to stand at 2.85 trillion yuan （$467.21 billion） in 2013.

Jin Zhun， Secretary General of the Tourist Research Center of the CASS， said that in 2013， more Chinese were traveling within the country. “Traveling used to be a kind of recreation solely reserved for the leisure class， but now more people can enjoy it，” said Jin.

According to a survey conducted by the Tourist Research Center of the CASS， most Chinese tourists earn between 3，000-8，000 yuan （$490-1，310） each month.

Chinese tourists used to take part in group trips in the past， but in 2013， most of them chose independent travel. Take Mount Emei as an example. In 2012， 80 percent of the visitors were group travelers， but in 2013， 80 percent of visitors were independent travelers. In 2012， 70 percent of visitors to Jiuzhai Valley and Changbai Mountain were group travelers， but in 2013， 70 percent of visitors to the two tourist attractions were independent travelers. Jin says the number of domestic group tours will continue to drop in 2014.

Among independent travelers， nearly half of them made self-drive tours. Among people making domestic trips， 46 percent of them， or 1.36 billion tourists， chose to drive by themselves.

Owing to recent anti-corruption measures， government-sponsored travel has declined sharply. According to the green paper， in the first half of 2013， the occupancy rate of Chinas three-star hotels or above dropped by 6 percent over a year ago， with revenues from rooms and catering decreasing by 8.5 percent and 17.2 percent respectively.endprint

Investment more active

According to the green paper， in 2013， direct investment in Chinas tourism industry reached 514.4 billion yuan （$84.33 billion）， up by 16.6 percent over a year ago. Of that total， 57 percent was private investment， and 61 percent of the investment was put into leisure and holidayoriented scenic spots. In 2013， the tourism industry directly created more than 500，000 new jobs.

The green paper said Chinas tourism industry has become unprecedentedly active in making mergers and acquisitions； a huge amount of money is flowing to foreign markets through investment in foreign airlines， yachts， hotels and other tourist facilities. Chinese companies have begun to participate in the international tourism market by using their capital， technologies， channels and brands. The most powerful example is that Wanda Group， Chinas largest premier commercial property and entertainment conglomerate， announced in June 2013 plans to acquire the British yacht builder Sunseeker at ￡320 million （$524 million）. Wanda also plans to invest ￡700 million （$1.15 billion） in building a five-star plus Wanda Hotel in London， which will be the first luxury hotel built by a Chinese companies in a foreign country.

Wu said the large amount of capital flowing to foreign countries is an extension of the industrial chain led by the growing level of outbound travel. Tourism investment became increasingly active in 2013. Among various tourism-related sectors， we can see both huge investment in domestic facilities and successful financing practices in overseas markets. “To the tourism industry， such active investment activities indicate that the industry has been more attractive to investors， and investment plans are becoming more ambitious，” said Wu.

In 2013， investment in mobile Internet applications for tourists also experienced explosive growth. Investment in applications in telecom， searching， positioning， travel guides， social networks and entertainment also grew fast over the year， making smart phones the first choice of“smart and easy-to-carry private assistant”for travelers.

According to the green paper， among Chinas online travel operators， the one that seizes the opportunity in the mobile Internet development will be the leader in future online travel markets.

Suggestions

Wu said China is widely recognized as a major nation for tourism. Its tourism industry makes significant contributions to economic growth and the creation of jobs. However， because China is a nation with a large population and operates on a huge economic scale， its tourism industrys contribution to economic growth is still lower than the global average. “For an economy that is the worlds second largest， we cannot say China is a strong nation for tourism，” said Wu.endprint

She went on to state that there are many factors restricting the development of Chinas tourism industry， such as social openness， sustainability of existing scenic spots， industrial environments and overall social development.

At present Chinas tourism industry is fully open to investors， and there are no obstacles in investment and infrastructure improvement in scenic spots. The most urgent issue the government should address may be to improve the mechanism that ensures tourists have more holiday time.

Hence the green paper suggests that the government add two to six days of statutory holidays， resume the holiday week for the May Day holiday and extend the holidays for the Chinese New Year.

The green paper also suggests that the government promote better implementation of the mechanism of paid leaves so that workers can stagger their annual leaves.

Wu said if these measures can be carried out in the future， overcrowding in scenic spots during holidays can be alleviated and the Chinese tourism industry will make significant progress.endprint