Outbound tourism continues to expand
Open visa policies, online booking, mobile payments creating generation of intrepid international tourists scouring the globe
GUANGZHOU — The island of Islay in Scotland is likely to see an influx of tourists from China, though it has few famous museums or luxury shopping centers.
Yue Yong, founder of a whisky academy in Beijing, has recently been preparing for a study tour to this year’s Islay Festival. Yue led 12 of his students to the island during the last week of May, to immerse themselves in the aroma of Scotch whisky.
“The new generation of Chinese are in step with their foreign peers,” Yue told Xinhua. “This whisky study tour reflects their interest in different cultures.”
Yue’s students are part of the largest and fastest growing group of spenders in the world.
According to statistics published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization in April, Chinese travelers spent $258 billion abroad in 2017, and made more than 142 million international departures.
They didn’t just spend a lot of money, but also spent their money in a lot of different ways.
Chinese travelers are now paying more attention to niche tourism markets, such as Scotch whisky tasting and polar lights chasing tours, short-term study trips, overseas voluntary camps and outdoor adventures.
Just four decades ago, few Chinese people traveled abroad.
As the reform and opening-up awoke the curiosity of many Chinese about the world, travel agencies in South China’s Guangdong province began to break the ice in the early 1980s.
In the beginning, family visits were the only permitted purpose for cross-border travel.
“Only people who had relatives living in Hong Kong could apply for tours,” Li Nianyang with GZL Travel Service recalled. He organized some of the earliest tours to Hong Kong when it was still under British control.
The tours had fixed schedules and usually lasted for a week. The fees had to be paid by the Hong Kong relatives.
Liang Hong, then 33, whose elder brother lived in Hong Kong, joined a tour in 1984. She returned with a schoolbag for her 6-year-old daughter. It was the family’s first souvenir from what was then considered overseas travel.
“What impressed me the most was the metro,” Liang recalled, “People just swiped their metro cards and boarded the trains. The technology was beyond my imagination.”
Liang’s hometown Guangzhou did not have a metro line until 1997. Today, the city has the fourth busiest metro system in the world, where passengers can board a train by simply scanning a QR code. The country’s tourism industry, meanwhile, has been prospering, and Liang has been to more than 30 countries and regions around the world.
Rather than seeing herself as an ordinary tourist, Liang considers herself a student on the road, who wishes to see the world as much as possible.
Together with three friends, she celebrated the most recent New Year holiday in Peru. Together with three other grandmothers, average age of 69, who speak
Chinese tourists have been embracing various cultures, and are also contributing to globalization on the road.” Yue Yong, founder of a whisky academy in Beijing
neither English nor Spanish, she managed to travel to the United States, Peru, Argentina and Chile in 35 days and even reached Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world.
Two months after the trip, Liang visited India with her husband, and is planning to tour Israel and Jordan later this year.
“My daughter helps me with the visa applications, and I would book all the accommodation and transportation online beforehand,” Liang said. “I save pictures of all my destinations on my mobile phone, so whenever I take a taxi or ask for directions I just show the pictures.”
Favorable visa policies, online booking services and mobile payment have enabled Chinese travelers such as Liang to explore other cultures freely and easily. As a result, world travel has truly become a lifestyle for some Chinese.
Jiao Jiawen had always wanted a special wedding. The 30-year-old Beijing resident is a huge fan of Japanese architect Tadao Ando, and therefore planned a ceremony at one of Ando’s famous works — the Chapel on the Water in Hokkaido.
She invited some 20 family members and friends to attend the wedding, which was held in accordance with the chapel’s conventions.
“Almost all of the guests had never been to Hokkaido before, so it felt like we were actually traveling and got married by the way,” Jiao said. “The wedding was very ceremonial, following the local traditions. It was a fantastic experience.”
Yue Yong said: “Reform and opening-up has brought about drastic changes to the lives of Chinese. Chinese tourists have been embracing various cultures, and are also contributing to globalization on the road.”