China Daily Global Edition (USA)
NYC welcomes a more intrepid Chinese tourist
The emerging Chinese tourist to New York City is younger, more affluent and independent with a taste for adventure in The City That Never Sleeps.
NYC & Company, the city’s tourism marketing agency, said the Chinese market is transitioning from business and group tours to fully independent travelers, with a younger and more affluent generation traveling to the US.
“We prefer not to travel in groups, which could just give us a hurried and cursory glance at the city on chartered buses,” said Yang Fang from Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, who recently finished her master’s degree at a college in Kentucky. She was visiting New York with her parents on Monday.
“Chinese outbound independent tourism has had an explosive development in recent years. Also, Chinese tourists traveling in groups overseas has had a steady growth,” said Jason Song, director of the Product Planning & Promotion Division of L&L Travel Inc, the largest Chinese local travel agency in the US, headquartered in Manhattan.
Song said one of the reasons that more tourists choose to travel independently is that they are getting younger.
“This generation of Chinese all know English pretty well; there are no barriers for them to travel in an Englishspeaking country like the US by themselves,” Song said.
He said New York City is the prime choice in the US for Chinese independent travelers because of the large number of popular attractions and the 24-hour subway system.
“And travel- strategy websites like Trip Advisor and hotels.com are well developed; they all established Chinese version websites because of the growing number of Chinese users. Tourists can have abundant information for preparation,” Song added.
According to NYC & Company’s visitor market profile from October, visit from Chinese mainland to New York has been growing rapidly over the past decade.
“NYC is China-ready, with attractions, cultural organizations, hotels and more catering specifically to Chinese travelers with amenities and language offerings,” said Fred Dixon, president and CEO of NYC & Company, the city’s tourism marketer.
The most popular and the biggest tourism destination in the US with foreign tourists, New York welcomed more than 950,000 visitors from China this year, a sevenfold increase since 2007.
Back then, more than 15 countries, including Switzerland and Israel, sent more tourists to New York than China did, according to NYC & Company statistics. But this year, only visitors from the UK outnumbered the Chinese — and the British total of about 1.2 million has not grown since 2007, according to The New York Times.
Chinese surpassed Brazilians and Canadians as tourists to New York this year and will overtake the British by 2022, Dixon told the Times.
During President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US in September 2015, he and President Barack Obama jointly announced 2016 to be the China-US Tourism Year.
Chinese outbound independent tourism has had an explosive development.” Jason Song, a director of L&L Travel Inc
“It provides great opportunities and platforms for both sides to promote tourism; FollowingI’m sure the the deaths promotingof two events runners, organizedChina’s athleticsby both governing sides made body a and great runners contribution have called to for the tougher increasing regulationsnumber to haltof tourists cheating travelingin qualifyingto eachfor marathons.other’s country,” said Wang The Yanjie, deaths directorof two runnersof the China during Nationala recent race Touristin Xiamen,Office Fujian province, have underlined in New York. a problem with runners
“N YC & Company recognizes the importance of this crucial market and continuesprivately tradingto educaterace entries. iconic touristThe Chinese institutions Athletic and Association lesser-known issued gemsa safetyin welcomingregulation on Chinese Saturday visitors,that requires time andall race time organizersagain,” Dixonto tighten told Chinathe qualificationDaily. process and impose Dixon lifetimesaid that bans New on Yorkrunners City continuescaught cheating.to evolve, with new One hotelsof the and deceased attractionsat the in Xiamen half-marathon on Dec all five boroughs. 10 was a substitute who competed
By year’s end, the city will under someone else’s be home to 113,000 hotel name and number. rooms and 135,000 rooms by the end of 2019, meaning more accommodation options While than race ever officialsfor visitorssaid both from runnersall over the had world. cardiovascular Yang, problems,the student allowing fromrunners Kentucky, who put aren’ta lot properlyof effort registeredinto her trip. presents special risks.“I beganRace officialsto prepare would verynot have early, proper about health half or a contact year informationbefore, to bookfor runners tickets who and aren’t registered. hotels,” said Yang. “But it’s
“Trading of entrants’ quotas worth it, my mom likes the and competing under somebody street view of New York very else’s name is something much, so we can wander that occurs in many events along the streets here as long as we like,” said Yang, watching a street performance domesticallywith her parentsand overseas.on TimesWe will Square. take a strong stance againstTo meetthis behavior, increasingwhich jeopardizesdemand from the integrity Chinese of tourists,the sport as travel well as companieshealth of such like participants,”L&L are expandingsaid Wang their Dawei, tourism vice-presidentproducts to includeof the athletic association. smaller group interests. Race organizers nationwide “For example, usually tourism get significantly larger numbers groups would spend only of applications than places one day to visit New York available for such events. City, but now we are expanding
While trading race places some of the tours to two days; tourists could spend half a day at the World Trade among Center friendssite, the was 911 Museum,common earlyto have on, a trading deeper for experiencemoney andof that fame unforgettablehas become a terroristserious attack,issue. “Some Song said. registrants hire Still, establishedthere are runnersmany Chineseto compete touristsin their namewho so preferthey can obtain benefits like extra some of the more traditional points in college admissions. activities, such as taking
“There’s no doubt that the a sightseeing cruise to the integrity of the sport and Statue of Liberty or posing respect for the rules should be for a group photo with the protected,” said Wang Jing, a Charging Bull near Wall veteran marathon runner. Street.