Britain to woo China's generous spenders
Source: Xinhua |
September 3, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BRITAIN has launched a multi-million-pound tourism campaign to woo generous spenders from the world's fastest-expanding economy and most populous nation.
It is hoped the effort, announced by Britain's Department of Culture, Media and Sport, can help treble the number of Chinese visitors to Britain over the next three years, according to the department's website.
"Nobody should underestimate the opportunity China and its cities represent," Jeremy Hunt, Britain's culture secretary, said of the initiative, which has a budget of 8 million pounds (US$12.6 million).
To attract Chinese tourists, Britain will strengthen marketing in major Chinese cities, increase flight connections to China and look to improve the visa system.
During the London Olympics, Chinese tourists topped a ranking of shoppers, with each spending an average of 203.05 pounds in the first week of the event alone.
Britain is far from the only country trying to lure Chinese tourists, who are expected to leapfrog Germans and Americans to become the biggest shoppers overseas, against the backdrop of the worst economic downturn in decades.
According to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization, Chinese tourists made a record 204,000 visits to Japan in July.
The surge was partly fueled by a series of preferential visa policies rolled out by the Japanese government since 2010, including the recent three-year tourist visa offered to affluent Chinese who visit Japan's northeastern regions.
The United States has also made bids for Chinese travelers, introducing a basket of policies including an improved visa system in the first half of the year to boost the number of non-immigrant visitors from China and Brazil by 40 percent this year.
Although the money Chinese tourists spend is less than their Western counterparts on average, the number of travelers means their overall worth is huge and rising rapidly, said Dai Xuefeng, a tourism industry analyst at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The number of overseas trips made by Chinese topped 70 million last year, up 22.42 percent from a year earlier, and the World Trade Organization has predicted the figure will surge to 100 million by the end of the decade, from less than 12.13 million in 2001.
It is hoped the effort, announced by Britain's Department of Culture, Media and Sport, can help treble the number of Chinese visitors to Britain over the next three years, according to the department's website.
"Nobody should underestimate the opportunity China and its cities represent," Jeremy Hunt, Britain's culture secretary, said of the initiative, which has a budget of 8 million pounds (US$12.6 million).
To attract Chinese tourists, Britain will strengthen marketing in major Chinese cities, increase flight connections to China and look to improve the visa system.
During the London Olympics, Chinese tourists topped a ranking of shoppers, with each spending an average of 203.05 pounds in the first week of the event alone.
Britain is far from the only country trying to lure Chinese tourists, who are expected to leapfrog Germans and Americans to become the biggest shoppers overseas, against the backdrop of the worst economic downturn in decades.
According to data from the Japan National Tourism Organization, Chinese tourists made a record 204,000 visits to Japan in July.
The surge was partly fueled by a series of preferential visa policies rolled out by the Japanese government since 2010, including the recent three-year tourist visa offered to affluent Chinese who visit Japan's northeastern regions.
The United States has also made bids for Chinese travelers, introducing a basket of policies including an improved visa system in the first half of the year to boost the number of non-immigrant visitors from China and Brazil by 40 percent this year.
Although the money Chinese tourists spend is less than their Western counterparts on average, the number of travelers means their overall worth is huge and rising rapidly, said Dai Xuefeng, a tourism industry analyst at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The number of overseas trips made by Chinese topped 70 million last year, up 22.42 percent from a year earlier, and the World Trade Organization has predicted the figure will surge to 100 million by the end of the decade, from less than 12.13 million in 2001.
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