Destinations knownChinese tourists missing out as global tourism resumes – will they ever return in numbers again?
- Just as Chinese tourism was blossoming again – domestically, at least – along came Omicron. Now local hotspots are feeling the pinch once more
- One website theorises that outbound travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic may be here to stay
Like blood infused into a drained body, international visitors are being pumped back around the world by the heartbeat that is tourism.
But as North Americans reacquaint themselves with the Caribbean, Australians with Bali and northern Europeans with anywhere where the sun shines, there is one significant guest missing from the party: the Chinese tourist.
No one group of punters has been more crucial to global tourism in the past decade than the Chinese, who spent US$260 billion or so on their travels in 2019, more than anyone else. But despite the unexpected cutting of quarantine periods on June 28, the government’s zero-Covid quest will probably prevent many of those Alipay and WeChat Pay apps from being flashed in the world’s boutiques again anytime soon.
Until recently, the world’s loss had been China’s gain, with the Chinese scratching their itchy feet domestically, especially at the hottest of the country’s hotspots.
“Few Chinese destinations benefited as directly from the collapse of outbound tourism in 2020 as Hainan,” reported online platform Jing Culture and Commerce in early 2021. “As domestic tourism gathered momentum in the latter months of the year, the subtropical island’s comfortable environment and duty-free shopping captured tourists who, in recent years, have sought out regional destinations.”
Last August, CNN Travel reported that online travel provider Trip.com Group had “seen an uptick in bookings for bucket list destinations like Shanghai Disney, Beijing’s Forbidden City and The Great Wall of China”.