Over many years, Dr. Xie, 70, and his wife worked very hard and thriftily made a living. With their children all grown up and living independently, the couple considered the best way to spend their savings, not to mention their considerable pensions. To their great admiration, their children had traveled in foreign countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia, so they decided to sign up for a tour package to four European countries with a travel agency. So just before the coming of the 7-day National Day vacation in October, the couple boarded a plane bound for Great Britain.
Liu Xiaohui, a fashion designer, and her boyfriend, a photographer, were ready to get married. "Where are we spending our honeymoon?" they puzzled together. Southeast Asia? It was where they fell in love with each other. France? Memorable moments of romance were left there. At last, they set their sights on Germany, which signed an agreement last year with China and became a new destination for Chinese overseas travelers.
Applying science and technology to his planting, Wang Gang, a farmer in Huangyan, Zhejiang Province, has realized a bumper harvest of oranges for several years running, which has enabled him to travel abroad to understand the outside world. Last winter, together with his family, Wang visited South Korea. Asian countries enjoy a culture similar to China's, according to Wang, although he said his next destination would be to Europe.
Xu has worked for a computer company for several years, and because of his excellent performance, his company decided to dispatch him to the United States for a one-month business trip to broaden his horizons.
Dr. Xie, Ms. Liu, Mr. Wang and Mr. Xu are all part of a growing trend among Chinese to visit the rest of the world. In the past, though, it was not as easy as today for Chinese citizens to travel like this, except for business trips. Thanks to the development of China's tourism industry and the implementation of China's opening policy, overseas travel has now become possible and is enjoying greater popularity.
The overseas travel of Chinese citizens dates back 20 years. Hong Kong and Macao (before their return to China in 1997 and 1999) were the pilot destinations for Chinese travelers.
In November 1983, Guangdong Province took the lead in promoting this kind of travel, by permitting its provincial residents to go to Hong Kong for sightseeing or to visit relatives. In 1984, Hong Kong and Macao opened their tourist markets to Chinese citizens. Today, tourists from China's mainland have become the large majority of the visitors to Hong Kong and Macao.
In 1990, the Chinese government signed bilateral tourism agreements with Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand which were soon followed by the Philippines, and nine travel agencies were named to operate outbound tours. In this initial period, Chinese outbound tourism saw monopolistic operation.
In July 1997, the state government promulgated the Provisional Regulations on Chinese Citizens Outbound Travel on Their Own Expenses and approved 67 outbound tour operators. The regulations ensured legal administration for China's overseas tourism. Yet heavy monopolies still prevailed.
In July 2002, the China National Tourism Administration published the Administrative Regulations on Chinese Citizen Outbound Travel and approved 528 outbound tour operators, which amounted to 39 percent of the 1,358 international travel agencies across China and 4.5 percent of the 11,600 travel agencies all over the country. Although the current policies are still somewhat restrictive, the international tour operators include major travel agencies around China, leading China's overseas tourism down the road of rapid development.
The first ten years of China's outbound tourism was mainly targeted to Hong Kong and Macao and had strict restrictions on the number of travelers. Compared to 1992, the number of Chinese outbound travelers in 2002 increased more than five-fold. In the last five years, the annual growth rate of Chinese outbound travelers was 18.9 percent, and that of the outbound travelers on their own expenses has reached 33.5 percent. China has become a newly rising source of travelers, growing faster than any other country in Asia.
China's large cities and economically developed provinces hold the largest proportion of outbound travelers. In 2001, some 3.7 million Chinese joined tours organized by travel agencies, 56.12 percent of them from Beijing and Shanghai with others from Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang Provinces.
Guangdong was the first province to conduct overseas tours. Its travelers make up more than any other province in the country with 31.5 percent of the nation's total.
Travelers from China's boundary areas like Heilongjiang, Jilin and Yunnan Provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region find it easy to visit neighboring countries, such as Russia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and D.P.R.K. The tourism industries of these western areas are less developed than those in the east, but in recent years, the number of international travelers in these areas has grown at a rapid pace. And, even though the western areas lag behind eastern areas in tourist demand, areas that are outdated to tourists from the east are still popular with tourists from the western parts of the country.
Chinese international travelers can be divided into two categories: business travelers and private passport holders. The phenomenon of Chinese officials traveling abroad on state expenditure that once grabbed the attention of foreign media in the past has vanished today, thanks to the nationwide anti-corruption campaign launched in recent years. At present, the number of outbound travelers on private expenses has exceeded that of travelers with business passports.
While some Chinese travel abroad for immigration, study and to visit relatives, others go just for fun. And for them the most popular way to go is by group tour, mostly because it is reassuring and everyone in the tour speaks the same language. Other reasons include the inconvenience in applying for an individual visa and the lower cost of a group tour. For a while at least, group tours will continue to be the leading player in Chinese overseas tourism.
Before 1997, the major destinations for Chinese outbound travelers were Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macao-places that could meet the consumption demands of Chinese travelers with comparably inexpensive costs. In recent years, however, Australia, New Zealand, and the Maldives have won favor among Chinese travelers. With the accelerated development of China's international tourism, Europe and the North America are probably next.
For now, in addition to the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions, more than 20 countries have received Chinese travelers, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Indonesia, Nepal, Egypt, Turkey, Germany, Malta, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and India. In the near future, Chinese travelers will leave their footprints in every corner of the world.
Outbound tourism has strengthened the international position of China's tourist industry, and in the meantime, it has boosted China's inbound tourism. While helping Chinese broaden their horizons, outbound tourism also serves as "folk diplomacy," promoting friendship between the Chinese and people of different countries. As some uncivilized behavior by a minority of Chinese travelers was exposed by domestic media and condemned by public opinion, the awareness of Chinese people of social morality has been enhanced.
China has a population of nearly 1.4 billion, and, having spent a long time closed to the outside world, many Chinese are now eager to see the outside with their own eyes. Therefore, the demand on China's outbound tourist industry creates a lot of potential. Along with the development of the Chinese economy, the increase of Chinese citizens' incomes, and the further simplification of outbound travel formalities, the potential demand will, in reality, become effective demand.
At present, China's outbound tourism is witnessing high-speed growth. In light of the development trend of the Chinese economy, the annual growth rate of Chinese outbound travelers could range between 15 and 20 percent in the next decade. The number of outbound travelers in 2010 is expected to reach 56 million. China's overseas tourism will play an important role on the international tourist market and make a contribution to the promotion of the tourism in the Asia-Pacific region as well as around the world.
Starting from June 2003, Chinese travelers are allowed to take foreign currencies worth US$5,000 with them for local purchases, an increase from the previous amount of US$2,000 and proof of the increasing consumption capability of the Chinese. As it further eases the restrictive policies on outbound tourism, the Chinese government will be more rapidly open to overseas tourist markets. The development of China's inbound and outbound tourism will finally position the country as a tourist power.
According to the China National Tourism Administration, the State Council has newly approved the opening of four more foreign countries for Chinese tourists: Croatia, Hungary, Pakistan, and Cuba. With them, China has so far opened 28 overseas tourist destinations. Any travel agencies approved by the China National Tourist Administration to have the right to operate outbound tours can organize Chinese tourists to visit these four countries starting November 1.
(China Pictorial Text by Xie Chen, Wang Lei, and Wang Xinjun November 12, 2003)
