Even as international tourism to China has been hit in the wake of the global recession, the country is likely to see positive tourism growth in 2009 because of a renewed focus on the domestic market.
Recent figures from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) show that tourism is on the rebound.
The NTA says inbound tourism on the mainland rebounded in August after falling for 15 consecutive months since May 2008.
The mainland reported more than 11.09 million inbound tourist arrivals in August, up 3.06 per cent year on year.
Data shows that foreign currency income from inbound tourism is estimated to be $3.46 billion for August, up 5.38 per cent from a year earlier.
The figures are an improvement on the 8.2 per cent drop in arrivals from outside the mainland in the first half of the year – largely due to the global economic downturn and the swine flu epidemic, which combined to slow international travel spending.
Indeed, data from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) showed that international tourism declined by eight per cent globally in the first four months of this year. Particularly slow have been traditional source markets such as Japan, South Korea and the United States.
The business travel sector has been badly affected as multinational firms encourage video conferencing to reduce travel costs.
However, the bright spot for China has been the growth of domestic tourism and the country has turned its focus to the massive internal market. According to Du Jiang, vice chairman of the CNTA, the country’s domestic tourism grew 11.7 per cent year on year to 1 billion visitors in the first six months. He was speaking at the fifth International Conference on Destination Management in Hangzhou.
“The growth in the domestic market has greatly reduced the negative impact of the global recession on China’s tourism industry and helped ensure the stable development of the industry,” he said.
Chinese cities traditionally popular with tourists have offered incentives to lure travellers since the start of this year. Hangzhou gave out free coupons worth a quarter of a billion yuan. It was a risk that paid dividends, working better than expected.
The CNTA now expects domestic tourists to top 1.9bn this year, a year-on-year rise of 10 per cent, according to CNTA director Shao Qiwei. He was speaking at a recent Pacific-Asia Travel Association (PATA) ceremony. “Domestic tourism development will sure become one of the key areas for expanding domestic demands. A steady rise in domestic tourists will offset the decrease of overseas tourists to the Chinese mainland because of the global economic downturn,” he said.
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Officials believe the increased numbers are both a result of campaigns to get Chinese people travelling within their homeland as well as a sign of a rebounding economy.
Overall, the CNTA forecast for this year is that the tourism industry will see a slight increase, from one to two per cent, in both visitor arrivals and tourism revenues, Li Renzhi, director-general of the supervision and management department of CNTA, was quoted as saying in the local China Daily newspaper.
The upturn could continue next year, too, according to the results of an American Express survey. China could expect to see a three to eight per cent increase in short-haul air travel and a two to seven per cent increase in long-haul travel. Hotel rates could rise between one and six per cent, the survey said.
China is expected to become the world’s most popular tourist destination within four to six years as well as the single largest source of international tourists, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
by Clark Kelly