China is using travel as an important tool to help strengthen its economy.
China also hopes to increase its influence on world events by sending more
travelers overseas. This hope was evident at the recent First World Conference
on Tourism. There, a Chinese official spoke about the government's plan for
using tourists and the money they spend. The head of China's National Tourism
Administration, Li Jinzao, said the country is expecting some big numbers from
tourism. Li told the conference that China plans to send 150-million travelers
along what he called the "One Belt,One Road." In the next five years, these $200
billion, he said. This spending estimate is likely to raise expectations
among countries along the ancient Silk Road, which links China to its neighbors.
Li predicted that total Chinese spending on tourism would increase up to three
times from the present level of $460 billion by the year 2020. State media
reported his comments. Some observers say that travel will have a small impact
on the Chinese economy. But there is a no denying the governments excitement to
enlarge the role of the tourism industry. China has reasons to feel it can use
tourism influence foreign policy. Governments across the world are changing their
immigration rules to welcome the growing numbers of Chinese tourists. japan
recently announced it would offer 10-year visas to Chinese businessmen and
artists. The desire to attract tourists has led Nepal and Sri Lanka to change
their relationships with China,too. Chinese citizens are now going to places
where in the past Chinese rarely went. Their decisions are often based on
political sensitivities or the desire to buy luxury goods. Michel Gutsats is a
marketing expert. He says that among Chinese travelers, South Korea and Thailand
are popular destinations. Outside of Asia, he said,Chinese are more likely to
visit Europe than North America. These changes, he said, are the result of young
Chinese travelers, who spend more than and travel independently. Spending by
Chinese tourists has lifted the economies of several Asian countries, including
Thailand,Malaysia and Vietnam, according to a new report by HSBC, a bank. HSBC
expects the number of Chinese traveling overseas to reach 242-million by 2024.
In a single year that number would be equal to the total number of tourists
received by Germany, Iran, Indonesia and Egypt combined. Chinese tourists are
responsible for more than 15 percent of all arrivals in Hong Kong, Korea,
Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand and Japan, the bank's report said China is now the
biggest business travel market in the word. The Global Business Travel
Association (GBTA) recently announced that China has overtaken the United states
in business travel. Chinese spent just over $291 billion on business travel last
year. Americans spent just over $290 billion. This year GBTA predicts that the
Chinese business travel market will grow over 10 percent, while the U.S.
business travel market will grow less than 2 percent.