An Analysis of the Tourist Flow in Chinas Outbound Tourism

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• An Analysis of the Tourist Flow in Chinas
  Outbound Tourism
• Yanjun Xie Miao Li
• (yxie_at_dufe.edu.cn)
• School of Tourism Hotel Management
• Dongbei University of Finance Economics

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Topics of My Presentation

• A Rough historical outline of tourism development
  in China
• Composition of outbound tourism destinations of
  China
• Volume, direction, and concentration of outbound
  tourism of China
• Demand characteristics and consumption
  preferences of Chinese outbound travelers
• Constraints and incentives for outbound tourism
  of China

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1.A Rough Outline of History of Tourism
Development in China

• Political Hospitality1949-1978
• Modern Tourism Industry Since 1978
• Priority of Tourism Development since
  1978Inbound International Tourism
• The Focus of Tourism Development in the Early
  Time Foreign Currency
• The Pattern of Tourism Development Inbound
  International Tourism First Domestic Tourism
  Second Outbound International Last.

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1.A Rough Outline of History of Tourism
Development in China

• The huge accumulation of foreign currency
• The fast growth of inbound international tourism
• The whacking boom of domestic tourism
• The forthcoming outbound international tourism
  wave

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES
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ANNUAL VISITOR ARRIVALS 19782007
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OUTBOUND DEPARTURES 1993-2007 (TEN THOUS.)
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DOMESTIC TOURISTS ARRIVALS1993-2006
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The Development course of outbound international
tourism in China

• The first stage (starting stage) 1983 -1996,
  featuring VFR and border area travel
• The second stage (growth stage) since 1997.

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2.Composition of outbound tourism destinations of
China
Time course and geographical distribution
of Chinese citizens outbound destinations
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Detailed list of outbound tourism destinations
of China
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Detailed list of outbound tourism destinations of
China
Table? Approved outbound destinations
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3.Volume, direction and concentration of
outbound tourism of China

• Volume of outbound tourist flow
• WTOs forecast(1995)
• Average annual growth rate12.8 in 1995-2020
• Market share 0.9 in 1995 to 6.4 in 2020
• From 2000 to 2007 the average annual growth rate
  of Chinese outbound departures is 21 .
• The outbound travelers to Hong Kong and Macao
  account for almost 70 of the total departures.

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Share of Outbound Tourist Flow in 2007
3.Volume, direction and concentration of outbound
tourism of China
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3.Volume, direction and concentration of
outbound tourism of China

• Directions of outbound tourist flows
• Short-distance flows to North-East Asia and
  South-East Asia, and long-haul flows to Western
  Europe
• Japan and South Korea are the two most important
  short-distance destination countries
• the USA and Australia are the two most important
  long-haul destination countries
• European countries become the most popular
  long-haul destinations for Chinese outbound
  travelers in recent years.
• The top ten outbound destinations maintain
  stable
• 1999 Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, Japan, Russia
  US S. Korea, Singapore, N. Korea, Australia
• 2007 Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, S. Korea,
  Vietnam, Russia, Thailand, US Singapore,
  Malaysia

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The top ten destinations for outbound tourism of
China

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The Concentration degree of outbound tourist flows

• The proportions of Chinese traveler to Japan and
  South Korea were relatively large, each of them
  was more than 10.
• The average CR of the top three, the top five,
  the top eight and the top ten destinations were
  31.1, 45.7, 61.0 and 65.7 respectively.

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4.Demand characteristics and consumption
preferences of outbound tourists of China

• International tourism expenditure continues to
  increase
• WTO amount of international expenditure reached
  US24.3 billion in 2006 increased 11.5 ranked
  6th
• AC Nielsen Company average expenditure per
  visitor US928, US1408 specially in Europe,
  ranked No.1 in Europe.
• Visitors to Switzerland daily spending per
  person reached 500Swiss Frac, equals that of
  three German or four Dutchman.
• Tourist spending items 45 on shopping, 21 on
  sightseeing,18 on entertainment.

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Chinese outbound travelers for private purpose
increase dramatically
Comparison of Chinas outbound travelers for
private purpose and official purpose (million
persons)
Source The Yearbook of China Tourism
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Chinese outbound travelers for private purpose
increase dramatically (chart)
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In-depth Tours and Quality Products

• There is a trend that In-depth Tour has much more
  market potential than Sightseeing Tour
• Demand for Quality Products Emerges

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Free Travel Increases

• Huge potentials of Chinese tourism market are
  increasingly recognized
• More and more countries choose to issue
  individual tourist visa to Chinese citizens and
  simplify the application procedure
• Some countries tend to loosen their restrictions
  on issuing tourist visa
• Free Travel was thus a burgeoning pattern in
  those countries mentioned above.

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5.Constrains and Incentives for Outbound Tourism
of China

• Outbound travel policy
• In the early time actively developing inbound
  travel, appropriately developing domestic travel
  and restrictedly developing outbound travel
• In 2005, CNTA adjusted the above policy to
  comprehensively promoting domestic travel,
  actively developing inbound travel and
  standardizing outbound travel.

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5.Constrains and Incentives for Outbound Tourism
of China

• Disposable income of Chinese residents increases
  with a double-digit annual rate in recent years.
• The increase of the value of RMB Yuan against the
  U.S. dollar.
• A huge population base with more than 100 million
  affluent residents live in cities or towns.
• The narrowing of the rich-poor gap is to foster
  huge middle class tourism market in China.

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Disposable Income of Urban Residents Increases
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Holiday System Changed

• Before 2008
• Two days off in a week since 1995
• Three week-long holidays (including Spring
  Festival, May Day Holiday, and National Holiday,
  which are called Golden Weeks) since 1999
• Public holidays 10 days all together belong to 4
  legal holidays
• After 2008
• Three Golden Weeks became Two
• 4 legal holidays became 7
• Public holidays 10 days extended to 11.

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Conclusions

• Outbound tourism of China shows features of late
  start, fast growth and vast potential.
• Concentration degree of the outbound tourism
  market is not high at present stage.
• Asian countries and regions have been the main
  destinations for outbound tourism of China.
• Europe and Oceania are the two popular long-haul
  destinations and Africa emerges as an new
  destination in recent years.
• Developed countries are main destination
  countries (including Japan and South Korea for
  short-distance market, and the United States and
  Australia for long-haul market).
• Quality of products is valued In-depth tour is
  replacing sight-seeing tour Free Travel is
  much more possible in some countries.

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Three Welcomes

• You Are Welcome to visit the University of
  Finance Economics (DUFE www.dufe.edu.cn ),
  which is one of the best four universities
  specialized in the academic field of Economics
  and Management in China.
• You Are Welcome to cooperate with the School of
  Tourism Hotel Management (STHM
  sthm.dufe.edu.cn) in DUFE, which was ranked the
  second in 2006 among more than 500 universities
  with tourism programs in China.
• Your Are Welcome to visit Dalian, which was
  ranked the First Three Best Tourist Cities in
  China, by both WTO and CNTA in 2007. The modern
  coastal city is situated in the North-East China
  close to Korea and Japan.

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Thank You All for Your Attention !