Ernie Wiseman
Before the pandemic, Robert Lee, director of the U.S. Center for Asian Tourism and Hospitality Research and a professor at Temple University, was the go-to consultant for destinations and travel companies interested in entering the Chinese market.
Disney called him. CLIA invited him to Seatrade and spoke at the public relations committee. He urged an extensive investigation as the U.S. government and the U.S. Travel Industry Association (now US Travel) were preparing to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to promote group travel from China to the United States. Requested.
But at some point during the pandemic, Li stopped following trends in China’s outbound tourism.
“It broke my heart,” he told me earlier this week. “So many talented and passionate friends have left China’s outbound travel industry.”
He joins many in the U.S. travel industry who have come close to putting Chinese tourism on “pause” after travel to and from China was all but halted after the pandemic was declared. And interest in restarting tourism with China remained on the back burner for much of 2023, as China was one of the last countries to open its borders after the pandemic.
However, travel freezes are rapidly easing across nearly every sector of the industry.
In January, Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano told Travel Weekly, “Our China business has fully recovered from a RevPAR perspective. “Chinese travel is on the rise, which should drive both our China business and our regional and global business.” ”
At the end of February, the US Department of Transportation approved a 30% increase in the number of weekly round-trip passenger flights by Chinese airlines.
And last week, Royal Caribbean announced it would join MSC Cruises in returning to the country with outbound itineraries designed for Chinese nationals.
Before the pandemic, Chinese travelers to the U.S. held the records for longest stay and highest spending (but not highest spending per day) among inbound travelers.
Will they come back?
Public relations firm Finn Partners, in collaboration with CSG Research, conducted a survey of affluent Chinese travelers to gauge sentiment on a variety of travel-related issues. They published their findings in a report titled “Outbound Rebound in 2023: The Return of Chinese Travelers.”
The results showed a relatively rosy outlook. “Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were the world’s biggest travel spenders. Now they plan to spend even more,” the newspaper reported. “Chinese travelers budgeted an average of 15% more than their average actual spending in 2019.”
And in what appears to be good news for U.S. inbound travel, which has been losing market share to competing destinations since the pandemic, the U.S. ranks among the top long-haul destinations Chinese travelers say they plan to visit next. That’s what I did. 12 months. “Wealthy Chinese travelers are looking to revisit places they enjoyed on past trips,” the report said. “They will prioritize evergreen destinations… [that] they already do. ”
Despite this, when asked about satisfaction with the six long-haul countries on that list, the US tied for last place with the UK.
This is not to say there was a high level of dissatisfaction, with all countries listed rated between 83% and 89% satisfaction. However, it is somewhat paradoxical that the countries that wealthy Chinese most want to visit are also the countries in which they feel least satisfied.
Does this split reflect growing tensions between the two countries? If asked where they would like to go, wealthy Chinese would probably want to see the United States. Having visited here once, they know that there is still much to see in this country. However, expressing satisfaction (rather than a desire to go) may be seen as a sign of approval, and there may be a reflexive action to withhold that approval altogether out of loyalty to one’s country. There is a gender.
When I asked Mr. Li when he thought Chinese tourists would return, he began: “I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think a strong indicator that they’re likely to come back would be to see Chinese students returning to American universities. If they come back, Chinese tourists will come back too.”
He believes there is still demand to study in the United States, but said that when he speaks with parents considering American schools, he finds that the biggest concern is safety. “Any major mass shooting always makes the news,” he says. “But there is no data to show that crime is decreasing in large cities.”
In fact, the Finland/CSG report lists five “deal breakers” that drive wealthy Chinese travelers away from their destinations. Topping the list was “poor safety,” chosen by 56% of respondents.
US Travel CEO Jeff Freeman acknowledged research shows gun violence is a “growing concern” among people considering traveling to the United States. However, Brand USA reported, “There is a gap between what people say and what they do.”
“There is still pent-up demand,” Lee said. “There is still market potential. The US market needs to go through a new learning curve. Patience is needed on both sides.”
