Your current location:HOME >opinions >Steps to attract more Chinese visitors urged 正文
TIME:2024-04-30 15:31:45 Source: Internet compilationEdit:opinions
Industry insiders have called for favorable policies to attract Chinese visitors as several cities i
Industry insiders have called for favorable policies to attract Chinese visitors as several cities in the United States and Europe have witnessed a decline in the number of tourists visiting from China in the past few years, resulting in loss of revenue for the tourism industry in those places.
Speaking to China Daily, Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice-president of the U.S. Travel Association, a nonprofit organization representing the travel industry, said that China used to be one of the fastest-growing markets for the travel industry in the U.S., with "Chinese visitors spending more on average than visitors from any other market".
According to an analysis by the association, tourist inflow from China to the U.S. last year stood at only 30 percent of 2019 levels, while the overall overseas travel recovery stood at 73 percent. The U.S. saw 1.8 million fewer visitors from China in 2023 compared with 2019, resulting in an estimated loss of $9 billion in potential travel spending, according to the association.
Chinese tourists are much loved by international businesses as they are among the biggest spenders when they travel.
Statistics show that Chinese travelers represented the highest average spend per visitor, with each Chinese visitor spending an average of $11,849 in 2019, said the National Travel &Tourism Office, the agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that monitors tourism.
In New York City, about 8 percent of 14 million visitors in 2019 were from China, according to the New York City Tourism and Conventions Office. Around 390,000 were estimated to have visited from China last year.
The pattern is also being repeated in other countries.
Two million Chinese tourists visited France in 2019, generating more than 3.5 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in revenue, according to French newspaper Le Monde. However, in 2023, the figure fell to 1 billion euros.
"Chinese tourists are mainly welcomed by operators specializing in Chinese or Asian customers. Due to the absence of Chinese visitors, they starved for three years, which is extremely long, extremely hard," Jean-Pierre Mas, president of Les Entreprises du Voyage, an association that brings together 1,674 companies representing 85 percent of travel agencies in France, told Xinhua News Agency.
Travelers from China spent more than 2 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) a year in the United Kingdom before the pandemic. But the UK is currently missing out on 750 million pounds a year in spending by Chinese tourists, according to the Association of International Retail.
In 2021, the UK abolished VAT-free shopping for tourists. That made overseas visitors head to Italy and Spain and other destinations instead of the UK.
Speaking to The Telegraph, London, Paul Barnes, CEO of AIR, said, "If you want your economy to do well out of the international visitor sector, you really should be appealing to the Chinese, and the one thing that appeals to the Chinese is shopping."
"As Chinese travel patterns shift in favor of more regional, shorter-haul trips, the UK must reduce barriers to growth and compete more aggressively to welcome visitors from critical source markets like China," he added.
Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.
UN Chinese Language Day celebrated in Tunisia2024-04-30 15:19
Columbia University president to testify in Congress on college conflicts over Israel2024-04-30 15:06
California game store thief is wrestled to ground during robbery2024-04-30 15:01
Taylor Swift fans are scammed out of more than £1 million by ticket fraudsters2024-04-30 14:52
Astros promote 1B prospect Loperfido as Abreu's struggles continue for slumping team2024-04-30 14:42
Amy Schumer looks thinner in a T2024-04-30 14:38
Taylor Swift teases The Tortured Poets Department album release week with Spotify message2024-04-30 14:02
Madonna, 65, flashes her cleavage while leaning over a Bible with a man next to her as she covers Re2024-04-30 14:01
Finnish carrier suspends Estonia flights after GPS interference prevents 2 landings2024-04-30 13:57
European Union questions TikTok on new app that pays users for watching2024-04-30 13:27
Democratic mayor joins Kentucky GOP lawmakers to celebrate state funding for Louisville2024-04-30 15:21
3 Vietnamese land rights protesters released early from prison — Radio Free Asia2024-04-30 15:16
UK inflation falls to lowest level since late 2021 as food prices ease further2024-04-30 15:05
Reynaldo López pitches 6 scoreless innings, Braves beat Astros 62024-04-30 15:05
Who is Humza Yousaf's wife Nadia El2024-04-30 14:49
Pakistan targets right T20 combination against understrength New Zealand2024-04-30 14:42
Japan records a trade deficit for the third straight fiscal year despite recovering exports2024-04-30 14:02
Emily Ratajkowski shares panty2024-04-30 13:50
2 hikers drown after falling into creek on Tennessee trail2024-04-30 13:33
EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Princess Martha Louise of Norway blasts 'lies' about her love guru fiance2024-04-30 13:23