Chinese tourists rush to the USA!

Chinese tourists, a goldmine for the american tourism industry

A very dynamic market

Chinese tourists’ spending abroad are still on the rise! They are now ranked second among the tourists who spend the most in the USA. According to a recent american survey on foreign visitors in 2014, more than 2,2 million chinese tourists visited the USA last year, spending a total amont of 2,3 billion dollars.

90% of the chinese tourists would enjoy shopping when they travel to a foreign country, spending 10800 dollars on average! Canadian tourists the most numerous to visit the US last year and the one who spent the most with a total amount of 3,4 billion dollars more than the chinese tourists… but for 10 times more people!

There was a total of 74,800 tourists in the USA in 2014 for 220,6 billion dollars of total spending.

Yes, chines tourists are the biggest spender in the world… to know more, click here.

Chinese “super-travellers”

One of the reason for this exentric spending of chinese tourists? Super-travellers.

65% of the chinese tourists who travel abroad are super-travellers, very wealthy, and extravagant spenders! The USA has been their second favorite destination for the last three years. Last year, those so-called super-travellers have extended the duration of their stay from 18 to 20 days on average.

How does the american tourism industry adapt

American luxury hostels have recently been putting a lot of efforts to adapt the phenomenon and attract those chinese customers.

The Marriott Hotel sends representatives in China and require from its employees to speak some sentences in mandarin. At the Marriott Marquis, New York, the number of the 44th the number of the rooms were changed to avoid number 4, which brings bad luck in the Chinese culture.

The Hilton sends on a regular basis representants to China in order to get in touch with local travel agencies. The group has been developping a special program to welcome chinese with chinese speaking teams. In 63 of the group’s hotels, chinese menus are offered and oranges and clementines are arranged in the rooms, providing good luck for its asian VIP.

Starwood goes the extra mile too

The Startwood, owner of the Sheraton, the Westin and W hostels, has also reviewed its services, offering kettles and tea in the rooms, menus in chinese with noodle and porridge, and its data sheets and website have also been translated into Mandarin.

And so do tourism offices…

Tourist Offices also adapted their strategy in order to capt more of this growing chinese tourism market. The State of California, among others, has set up a program untittled “China Ready”, including handbooks giving informations about the chinese culture and the way to behave with chinese customers.

Why such an influx of chinese tourists to the USA?

According to Zhang Guangrui, honorary president of the center of research on tourism at the chinese academy of social sciences, the growth of the middle class and the easing of the visa policy would be responsible for the growth in chinese tourists spending abroad, especialy in the USA.

A limited phenomenon

However, the american tourism industry won’t expect to much from this phenomenon.Zho Ping, one of the most influent researcher at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, declared that it would slow down. The chinese economic downturn  and dollar fluctuation could indeed restrain the buying power of chinese tourists in the USA. Zho Ping added that in some area of China, duty free area are created in order to allow chinese people to buy non-overcharged imported good without even aving to cross the borders.

A chinese tourism market expected to remain dynamic

According to the chinese accademy of tourism, there would have been more than 116 chinese people traveling abroad last year, which represents a growth of 17,8% compared to 2013.  Their spending would also be significantly rising – up 18% to a total amount of 140 billion dollars in 2014. China expects this growth to carry on and reach 135 million chinese tourists abroad in 2015. Chinese tourism is to remain a very dynamic market!

Learn more about the phenomenon on Chinadaily.

What is the good strategy to capt chinese tourists?

No doubt such a dynamic market is attractive. But if ones want to capt those potential chinese toruists, it is essential to adapt, just the way the american tourism industry has done. Understanding what they need and what they are expecting for is a must. And before even trying to satisfy them, ones need to get noticed by those potential customers!

Internet appears to be the most efficient media for an efficient marketing strategy in China, a country where people live constantly connected. But in order to make it succesful, it is essential to be familiar with the chinese network, which because of the national censure is very different from the one we western people do know….

You want to know more about the impact of social network on Chinese tourists? Click here. 

We are a Digital Agency based in China and specialized in Chinese Tourism Marketing. We help Hospitality and travel Businesses to expand their Business in China.

We can adapt to all kind of Businesses, contact us to get a quotation. 

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