China Outbound Travel Trend - Essay Example

China outbound travel trend China outbound travel trend The sustainable China`s economic growth, the implementation of the opening up policy by the Chinese government and the overall increase of the government income have had a significant positive impact on the tourism industry in China. China`s citizens have continually travelled abroad for various reasons that have not only had a bearing on the country`s travelling trends but has also affected other industries as well. The general increase in people`s personal incomes and setting up of favorable travelling policies have attracted many people to travel abroad in China making the country dominate Asias travel trends in the first half of 2015 according to the recent trends in air travel. The trend also possesses a high position in world trade and provides a win-win situation for both consumers and producers. This paper will explore the growth of china`s travel including the reasons for its growth as well as recommend strategies that would make the travel even more convenient. The journey to the growth of China`s travelling trends dates far back in 1997 when the Chinese government allowed its citizens to use their expenses freely to go abroad. The travel market has since then had significant growth with the number of China`s residents going abroad reaching 16.6 million in the year 2002. This proved China as the fastest growing travelling market and hence a potential tourism market in the world. The improvement trend has since then continued to grow and in 2012 the Chinese expenditure on outbound travel was noted to surpass the Americans spending. By 2014, China was noted to have made 98 million overseas visits that translate to a consumption of 128 billion. With the citizens reasons for travelling increasing as time goes by, the trend has significantly increased in the first half of 2015 with some destinations such as Germany having a 170% increase in number o of tourists from China. This was due to the simplified procedures in Visa application. The Chinese traders have however reduced their visits to Hong Kong as a result of protests from mainland shoppers. Countries such as France, Switzerland and Italy have however remained famous among the Chinese citizens due to their fascinating culture and art. Table 1. Top 10 Outbound Chinese Destinations in the First Half of 2015: 1. South Korea 2. Taiwan 3. Japan 4. Hong Kong 5. Thailand 6. France 7. Italy 8. Switzerland 9. Macau 10. Germany Data Source: China National Tourism Administration The travel trends have however increased significantly during public holidays as people have a lot of free time on their jobs during this period hence presenting opportunities to tour new places. In the first quarter of 2015, the following increments were observed in organized flights. • Chinese New Year 10% • May Day 37% • Dragon Boat Festival 30% Though a 5% decrease was observed during the Qingming Festival, the number of flights is expected to increase not only during the upcoming festive seasons but also in the regular working days, as China citizens seem to have a growing interest in exploring other countries for various reasons. The increased trend can be attributed to many economic and historical factors in China such as the Deng Xiaopings open policy, increased government income and greater citizen`s income due to a sustainable economy. Since the issuing of the public policy, the freedom to trade has resulted to significant profits to both citizens and the government that has in turn improved the country`s economy. The increased material wealth has made many people be in a position to afford to travel abroad. However, as the RMB exchange rate rises, the outbound currency experiences derogation, hence many Chinese residents have been attracted to consume products from outside as they can not only find them at low prices but also get a chance to explore as they purchase. The Chinese passport is also currently offering more choices of VWP countries hence this priority has played a big role in encouraging travel hence a rise in trend. It is important to note however that information pertaining past travel trends is not only important to the government, tourists and business persons only but rather to everybody regardless of their social status. By understanding the travel trends, one will be in a position to note an upcoming job opportunity in either a travel agency, a business institution or a foreign country that might end up increasing his/her income. Subjectively speaking, when people achieve the basic need of life, the pursuit of high quality of life becomes an inevitable trend. The improved quality of life makes people`s desire to explore different regions with different cultures. By understanding the travel trends one will be in a position to efficiently satisfy this physical need. The rise in material cultures has also at times prompted people to go for luxurious goods to show their social positions and at times meet their vanities. Understanding the travelling trends has played a big role in helping such individuals purchase cheap products in outside countries. This also represents a great advantage to traders who move out of the country to buy cheap commodities that they later return to sell them at a profit. With the many opportunities offered by the China`s travel trends, I find it necessary to make recommendations that I believe would positively impact on the improvement of the same. 1) Creation of mobile apps for booking trips on Mobile or making roaming call The development of the Chinese travel industry has enabled many people to prefer booking their trips by use of Smartphones. By designing a mobile application that would allow people to book trips and at the same time allow communication with the travel providers would make travel easier and cheaper. For convenience purposes, such an application should include messages, voice calls and even video calls. The application should also provide suggestions on restaurants in the area of a visit to enable the travelers network easier so that they are not stranded. Once they arrive at their destinations. Since the application will only require data transfer and a maybe some small payments, it will make a profit to the developer and at the same time improve transport by reducing costs and enhancing customer communication. 2) International direct flights Being an international student, I have always preferred booking a non-stop trip whenever I go back home. Though this appears more expensive, I have noted that many people transfer travelling to their specified destinations without having to stop unnecessarily in destinations they ought not to. Nowadays, an alliance is everywhere in the primary international air transportation market, and the five global partnership groups have come into being. In future, the direct flights are most likely to be the most competitive point among these airline alliances as many people`s needs for quick travel to a specified destination will be satisfied. 3) Cultural tourism With the increasing regular income in China, people find it attractive to satisfy their spiritual desire. Therefore, a cultural trip can not only match the desire of traveling but also have the meaning of education. And I believe most parents are very willing to spend money on the education of their children, so the cultural tourism must be very popular among parents group. According to article Chinese tourism fever, many young people in China enjoy travelling alone now. And the data shows that the young backpackers account for about 30 percent of Chinese tourists. Among them, they are becoming more sophisticated and look forward to richer experiences and higher-quality services. Overall, Chinese consumers have changed their consumption habits and refined their tastes after the greater exposure to the bigger world. Clement Kwok, managing director and CEO of Hong Kong in the development of Chinas tourism market." Now, as I know, a lot of tourism companies have already caught this trend and devoted their attention to exploiting cultural tourism. As a result, they benefit a lot from it as expected. Many people are concerned about China`s recent downhill economic trend. Though China`s stock trade isn`t going well so far this year, the world`s stock is also in the same pattern. The Chinese consumption in the global trade has maintained to be the highest. The world`s tourism organization has predicted that a strong possibility persists for China to become the world`s largest travel market by 2020. They have further predicted that in the same year there will be 100 million past Chinese visitors, 6.2 of the worldwide outbound visitors translating to 8.6% of the global share. Travelling abroad not only benefits an individual by broadening people`s mind and increasing their knowledge but also provides many industries a significant market hence increased profits. In future, according to the article "Chinese Tourism Fever" in a Chinese newspaper, in 2013, 98 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad, with a total consumption of 321 billion. Also, the WTTC forecasts that Chinas tourism industry will grow by seven percent annually for the next ten years, overtaking the United States as the worlds biggest travel and tourism economy by 2023. I believe that China`s trend will continue to increase due to the increasing population and increasing income among citizens. I have faith that the trend of China Travel will not stop its step. Whats more, with the fervor of tourism and a great number of industries pushed by this trend, the travel in other parts of the world will also be mobilized. In future, if the world trade gradually opens up the currency, most parts of the world will tend to carry out open-up policy. The trend of China travel may just be a beginning of the huge rising trend of whole worlds tourism (Travel china guide, 2015). Reference Travel china guide (2015). China inbound tourism, retrieved on 12th Dec 2015. http://www.travelchinaguide.com/tourism/2015statistics/outbound.htm, Read More