Lin Min

linmin67@hotmail.com

FOLLOWING robust tourism during the recent Spring Festival and Qingming Festival, there is high anticipation for continued growth in both domestic and outbound tourism in China.

A report from Fliggy.com, an online travel service provider, released on April 23, indicates that domestic travel bookings for this year’s May Day holiday have significantly exceeded those of the same period in 2019, with increases in both the average booking volume and amount.

Simultaneously, outbound travel bookings are also experiencing an uptick. As of April 23, bookings for international hotels, flights, and car rentals had all far exceeded the total for last year’s May Day holiday. Among the most popular destinations are Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, and Indonesia. Additionally, destinations farther away from China, such as Austria, Turkey, Spain, and Brazil, have seen a rapid increase in the number of bookings for travel products, becoming unexpected “dark horse” destinations.

However, the U.S. travel industry is not anticipating a swift rebound in tourism from Chinese travelers.

According to Reuters, the U.S. travel sector will have to wait at least two more years for Chinese tourists to return and revenues bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. Despite China lifting COVID travel restrictions from January 2023 and fully lifting group tour restrictions in August last year, Chinese arrivals in the U.S. grew to nearly 1.1 million, which remains 60% below 2019 levels, according to data from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office.

In 2019, 2.83 million Chinese tourists visited the United States, while marketing agency China Trading Desk expected 1.3 million Chinese will travel to the U.S. in 2024.

The U.S. tourism sector is feeling the pinch, given that Chinese tourists typically spend significantly more than those from other countries. Chinese tourists in the U.S. spent a whopping US$15 billion in 2019, more than any other market, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

Chinese tourist spending, which stood at an average of US$4,137 per visitor last year, was 123.6% above the average overseas tourist spending at US$1,850 per visitor, according to 2023 data from the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA).

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said last year that the U.S. economy could gain US$30 billion and 50,000 new jobs could be created if tourism from China returned to 2019 levels.

Some U.S. media outlets attribute the slow recovery in the number of Chinese travelers to what they perceive as China’s sluggish economic rebound and a sagging property market.

However, according to analysts, rising geopolitical tensions and the high cost of flying between China and the U.S. are denting the demand for travel as the number of flights between the two countries remains below pre-pandemic levels.

U.S. initiatives aimed at curbing Chinese technological progress and stoking tensions in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea have dampened the enthusiasm of Chinese travelers for the U.S. to some degree.

Higher costs and ethnic hate crimes are other factors that deter Chinese tourists from traveling to the U.S.

However, nations closer to China have reaped the benefits from an influx of Chinese tourists. Southeast Asian countries have offered visa-free entries to lure Chinese visitors.

A stronger-than-expected recovery in China’s domestic tourism and outbound travels indicates that the country’s consumer spending power remains strong.

According to forecasts by the China Tourism Academy, China is expected to see 130 million outbound trips this year. By April 20, the number of people booking for May Day holiday outbound travels had risen by 370% compared to last year’s holiday, good news for countries that have become new favorite destinations of Chinese tourists.

(The author is a deputy editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily.)