Tourism Deficits Loom Large

By+Yin+Pumin

Though there has been vigorous growth in outbound tourism and with it a generous increase in Chinese money being sent overseas， the same cannot be said of Chinas inbound tourism industry. According to the China Tourism Academy（CTA）， a research institute under the China National Tourism Administration （CNTA）， there will be a $100 billion tourism deficit this year.

In 2014， about 116 million Chinese citizens are expected to travel overseas， and spend a total of $155 billion， up 20 percent from a year ago， said Dai Bin， President of the CTA.

China saw fewer foreign tourists in 2008， when the global financial crisis led to drastically reduced foreign tourist spending in the country while a stronger yuan encouraged tourist outflow， according to Xinhua News Agency.

Explosive outbound travel

China is the worlds largest source country for outbound tourists and ranks first in international tourism expenditure， according to CTAs annual report released on June 10. The report reviewed the development of Chinas outbound tourism in the year 2013.

When analyzing inbound and outbound tourism， we should distinguish between foreign visitors and visitors from Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan， said Zhang Weiqiang， a professor with the Guangdong University of Finance and Economics （GUFE）. Currently， visitors from Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan to Chinas mainland are counted as inbound tourists， and vice versa.

In 2013， Chinese travelers made 98.19 million international trips， up 18 percent from 2012， according to the CTA report， making for a 10-fold increase since 2000 when compared to data from the UN World Tourism Organization.

The CTA report revealed that Chinese tourists spent a total of $128.7 billion overseas in 2013， up 26.8 percent from the previous year， when the country overtook Germany as the top international tourism spender.

CNTA estimated that in the first half of 2014， Chinese travelers spent more than $70 billion on their overseas trips， up 20.7 percent year on year.

Appreciations of the Chinese yuan， relaxed visa policies and domestic policies encouraging the orderly development of tourism have contributed to the growth of outbound tourism， the report said.

As the leader of a think tank in the tourism industry， CTA President Dai said that he has personally witnessed this dramatic growth in outbound tourism.

“Seven or eight years ago， we were often woken up from our sleep by phone calls from friends sending greetings from the Statue of Liberty， the Sphinx statue in Egypt， Notre Dame in Paris or the Sydney Opera House，” Dai said. He went on to explain that they called because they were very excited to get abroad. Now， this no longer happens because traveling overseas is not such a rare thing， he said.

Now its not only officials and celebrities traveling overseas， but also the general public， Dai said， adding that this has become part of the middle class lifestyle.

This year， Wang Qing and his wife， a retired couple in Beijing， made two overseas trips. They first went sightseeing in Europe with a tour group in the spring， and finding traveling overseas to be quite exciting， they then went to Thailand.

Outbound tourists used to almost all come from first-tier cities such as Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou and Shenzhen， and other economically developed coastal cities. Now more and more of them are from second and third-tier cities and central and western China， Dai said.

Tourists are no longer content with following tour groups， either； many have begun to choose individualized travel packages and a more in-depth experience of their destinations.

The most frequently visited destination region for outbound Chinese travelers in 2013 was Southeast Asia， where around 10 million Chinese traveled， said Dai. That year， more than two thirds of outbound tourists visited Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan， and just over 30 million traveled to foreign countries， he said.

Fewer incoming tourists

Inbound travel to Chinas mainland has been stagnant in recent years.

On October 23， the NTA published data for inbound travel in the first nine months of this year. The period recorded a total of 94.65 million trips made by inbound tourists， including 75.43 million trips made by residents of Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan and 19.21 million trips by visitors from foreign countries.

Of all foreign visitors， 11.82 million were from Asia， 4.09 million from Europe， 2.28 million from North America and the rest from other regions.

On October 20， the CTA also published a report reviewing inbound tourism in 2013. Last year， inbound tourists made a total of 120.08 million trips to China， down 2.51 percent from the previous year， the report said.

Inbound tourists generated total revenue of$51.66 billion in the year， up 3.27 percent from the previous year.

Those visiting mainly came to China to learn about the culture and do sightseeing. Beijing， Xian， Shanghai， Guilin， Guangzhou and the Three Gorges Dam were major destinations， the report said.

Compared to the number of inbound visitors in 2013， this year 102.78 million were from Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan， and 26.29 million were from foreign countries.

Last year， the top 10 largest sources of inbound tourists were South Korea， Japan， Russia， the United States， viet Nam， Malaysia， Mongolia， the Philippines， Singapore and Australia.

More than 70 percent of inbound tourists spent $501-3，000 on their trips， the CTA report said.

In 2013， per-capita spending of Chinese traveling overseas was almost three times that of foreign tourists spent in China， Fan Zhiyong， an associate professor with the School of Economics of Renmin University of China， told Xinhua News Agency.

Dai said that the generally lackluster world economy and increase in the competitiveness of neighboring countries has contributed to the stagnation in Chinas inbound tourism. Heavy smog and concern over food safety has also held some foreign travelers back.

Nonetheless， he believes a main reason is the inability of the countrys tourism industry to adapt to new trends in international travel.

He said that competition between tourist destinations used to be in tourism resources， products， images and management， while now it is gradually shifting toward the social environment， the countrys image， and management of diversified tourist flows.

He said that major tourist destination countries and regions have implemented comprehensive policies to promote the development of inbound tourism， such as easing visa procedures and launching promotional campaigns.

Dai suggested that Chinas tourism industry should jump out of the box and reorient toward tourists.

In 2014， the NTA launched a number of advertising campaigns overseas， including“Beautiful China—Rediscover the Silk Road”and “Journey Along the Great Wall，” the promotional website Cn.travelchina.gov.cn， as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts.

The fact that outbound tourism has outgrown inbound tourism should not be a surprise， said Liu Simin， a researcher with the Tourism Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

He said that inbound and outbound tourism in China are in different life phases. Inbound tourism started in China after the implementation of the reform and opening-up policy in the late 1970s， and now has history of more than 30 years， whereas outbound tourism started around the year of 2000.

When China had just opened up， it was a new destination for foreigners， so although it did not have good facilities， foreigners flocked into the country， Liu said. Now， China is becoming more and more international， and foreigners are no longer as curious， he said. However， curiosity about the outside world is prompting more and more Chinese to go abroad.