Top 10 Overseas Destinations for Mainland Tourists

“A nation will fall if it has no guidance. Many advisers mean security”                                                                          Proverbs 11:14

The Chinese mainland is increasing travel abroad each year and Chinese tourists from mainland China is on their way to becoming the largest source of cross-border tourists in the world. According to the Annual Report of China Outbound Tourism Development 2012, released by the National Tourism Administration and China Tourism Academy, mainland tourists made 70 million trips to foreign countries last year, up 22 percent from 2010 that was 1.2 times the number of US citizens going to foreign countries in 2011 and 3.5 times the number of Japanese citizens going abroad.

Of the 4.4 percent increase seen in cross-border tourism last year, Chinese tourists contributed 30 percent of that. That came even as the world tourism industry coped with the effects of the European debt crisis, the nuclear power plants disaster in Japan and political unrest in countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The report estimates that mainland tourists will make 78 million trips to overseas destinations this year, up 12 percent from 2011 and are expected to spend $80 billion overseas this year, up from an estimated $69 billion last year.

The greatest part of mainland tourists’ expenditures is expected to go toward shopping, accounting for 32 percent of the total. Following that is transport, taking up 21 percent of the total, the report said. Domestic inflation and the appreciation of the Yuan against the US dollar have worked together to strengthen the Yuan’s purchasing power abroad that has bolstered people's willingness to travel.

The China Tourism Academy studies found that if the Yuan appreciates by 1 percent against the US dollar, the number of overseas trips made by mainland tourists will increase by 4.36 percent.

During the National Day holiday in the first week of October last year, mainland tourists' spending on luxury goods overseas was equal to the total revenue from domestic sales of luxury goods over the course of three months.

According to the study, Chinese tourists are more satisfied with Spain, Malaysia, Russia and Germany, which have done a lot to improve tourist attractions and services. Destination countries should bear in mind that Chinese tourists do not want only to purchase brand name luxury products but they also want to have good travel experiences. Therefore, if the tourist destination countries want to increase number of mainland Chinese tourists they have to improve the services they offer to Chinese tourists too.

Nearby destinations such as Japan and South Korea have started to do more for Chinese tourists. Some, for instance, have put up signs written in Chinese. Countries including the US and Australia have taken steps to simplify the procedures mainland tourists must go through to obtain visas. Destination countries could also improve the services they offer to Chinese tourists by providing more Chinese TV programs and more tour guides who speak Mandarin. They could also do more to protect Chinese tourists' safety and property too.

Statistics have shown that Hong Kong was the top favorite destination among the top 10 destinations to which mainland Chinese tourists like to travel. Last year, 28.32 million Chinese mainland tourists visited Hong Kong followed by Macao 19.77 million, South Korea 2.3 million people, Taiwan 1.85 million people, Malaysia 1.74 million people, Japan 1.63 million people, Thailand 1.52 million people, United States 1.36 million people, Vietnam 1.14 million people, and Singapore 1.0 million people.

Having clearly seen the numbers, Thai tourist industry must improve tourist facilities and services to respond to the demand of Chinese mainland tourists and we have to do more marketing in China.

Malaysia has performed better than Thailand again in the tourist industry and Vietnam is coming closer. What Thailand has to watch closely is to not let Myanmar pass us in the future.

For Thai brothers and sisters in Christ please look forward into the future to see what our mission can be together with Chinese churches in mainland China because the number of Christians in mainland China has rapidly increased to more than 67 million people.

William Law quotes “God seeth different abilities and frailties of men, which may move His goodness to be merciful to their different improvements in virtue.”

        J Yes, Amen.

Source: China Daily