Overseas visitors at Tian'anmen Square in October. Smog is a leading factor in causing a drop in inbound tourists in China. Zou Hong / China Daily

Foreign travelers turn their backs on China, and it is not just pollution that is keeping them away

The latest report on China's inbound tourism issued by the China Tourism Academy offers little relief from the gloom that has settled over the industry in the past two years.

Since the first quarter of 2012, figures that the industry would like to see going up have headed in the opposite direction, says Dai Bin, president of the academy.

"And there is no sign that they will bounce back soon," he says.

Last year China welcomed a little more than 129 million inbound tourists, a fall of 2.5 percent on the previous year, the report said. The number of overnight inbound tourists was 55.7 million, a fall of 3.5 percent on the previous year.

Of the inbound visitors, 59.6 percent were from Hong Kong, 16 percent from Macao and 4 percent from Taiwan. Of the remaining 20.4 percent, 40 percent were from South Korea, Japan, Russia and the United States.

Among the factors contributing to the falling numbers of inbound tourists are smog, the appreciation of the yuan, a sputtering global economy and increasingly competitive tourism destinations in the East and Southeast Asia, Dai says.

"The smog has really tarnished Beijing's image, resulting in many potential foreign visitors opting to stay away from this ancient city."

According to the report, 75.5 percent of inbound tourists said they were "basically content" with their stay in China last year, 11.4 percent lower than in the previous year. Some of the respondents said they were unhappy with the environment, including water supply and air quality.

Yang Jinsong, a professor with the China Tourism Academy, who is a specialist in international tourism, says: "No one wants to be on what is supposed to be a relaxing holiday but then find themselves choking with smog. This persistent pollution, which is particularly bad in the fall and winter, is like having a door shut in your face."

To better promote inbound tourism, Yang says, the country ought to tap its potential in business tourism under the acronym MICE, meaning tourism related to meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions.

Despite falling inbound tourism, many hotels have succeeded in keeping their foreign occupancy numbers up by focusing on MICE and business tourism.

The Hilton Sanya Resort and Spa in the island province of Hainan says that 10 percent of its guests are from overseas, many on business trips or attending conferences.

Yang Chen, director of sales and marketing of Kunlun Hotel in Beijing, a member of the Preferred Hotel Group of Chicago, says overseas visitors account for 40 percent of its guests.

The 29-story hotel, which opened in 1986, has 575 rooms and most of its guests are in Beijing on business or for conferences, it says.

The China National Tourism Administration says that in the first nine months of the year, 96.5 million tourists visited the country, 1.48 percent fewer than in the corresponding period last year.

Of those 96.5 million visitors, 4.09 million were European, including 1.59 million from Russia, 480,000 from Germany and 441,700 from Britain.

Last year, 625,000 tourists arriving from Britain visited China, 1.07 percent higher than in the previous year, while 533,500 came from France, 1.66 percent higher compared with the previous year.

In the first nine months of the year, inbound tourism brought in $37.9 billion in foreign exchange revenue, but Dai says the trade deficit in China's outbound and inbound tourism will exceed $100 billion this year. That represents a doubling of last year's figure, which itself was 3.27 percent higher than the year before.

The World Tourism Organization says China topped the world's outbound travel source market last year, with about 100 million Chinese nationals heading to overseas travel destinations.

On average, a Chinese resident spent $1,368 in overseas travel, almost three times the amount inbound visitors spent in the country, says Fan Zhiyong, an associate professor at Renmin University.

The China Tourist Academy says that more than 70 percent of inbound travelers to China spent relatively little in the country last year, from $501 to $3,000 for each visit.

The Chinese online travel agency Ctrip International recently launched a new mobile app targeting foreign visitors traveling to the country, allowing them to check all their travel information, including real-time updates on flights, hotel booking and modifications in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, South Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.

It has also offered mobile exclusive savings of up to 30 percent on hotel rates and elimination of the 3 percent international credit card surcharge previously applicable to flight bookings.

Ctrip has also introduced a Christmas lottery that promises a gift to those booking flights departing in December. Among the prizes are a night at the Fairmont Nanjing Presidential Suite, Suites at Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai, various high-end dining experiences and travel credit.

The China Tourism Academy launched a website, travelchina.gov.cn in September 2012 as part of its online marketing campaign to promote inbound tourism. It has also opened offices in major source countries for inbound tourists, including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Spain.

Elong, another large online travel agency in China, has joined the world's largest online travel agency, Expedia, in several projects aimed at luring tourists to China this year under the banner "Beautiful China 2014 - Year of Smart Travel".

Jiang Shan, executive of eLong's new media division, says Expedia, apart from its expertise, has a "massive amount of data on users and their consumer behavior, which will certainly help more domestic travel agencies go global and attract foreign tourists to China".

These online inbound tourist-focused campaigns have mainly targeted visitors from Australia, Britain and the US.

In addition, many Chinese cities are ramping up efforts to draw inbound tourists by doing more promotional work and advertising overseas and introducing visa waivers.

Beijing, for example, has been advertising on CNN, the BBC, the National Geographic Channel and Fox since last year, and has promoted its 72-hour visa waiver policy that is aimed at attracting more transit passengers.

The Beijing Tourism Development Commission is now considering a tax refund program that would allow tourists from 45 countries to claim tax refunds on purchased goods at downtown shopping malls.

From Oct 14, Sichuan Tourism Administration officials conducted a nine-day tour of France, Germany and the Netherlands and set up a permanent marketing center in Paris.

In its campaign, titled "Amazing Sichuan: Home of Giant Pandas", it launched tsichuan.com, offering travel information, guides and assistance in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish, as well as a YouTube channel devoted to Sichuan tourism.

Contact the writers at xiaolixin@chinadaily.com.cn and zhengxin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 10/31/2014 page8)