Cashing In on Chinese Tourists
- Some countries are in an uproar over the flood of inexpensive Chinese exports hitting their shores -- everything from TVs to towels.
Now, the tourists are coming.
In a development that could mean big business for mid-priced global-hotel chains, China announced in early September that it will significantly loosen travel restrictions for residents of about 100 Chinese cities. The changes should allow many millions more people in the world's biggest nation to be able to apply for passports on their own, making it far easier for them to travel overseas. Previously, most residents had to get permission from their employers to get a passport and often were quizzed about where they wanted to travel.
China is also making it easier for its people to travel to neighboring Hong Kong. There, the government is so worried about a new deluge of travelers that it has beefed up staff at immigration checkpoints and proposed converting public housing and cruise ships into new hotels.
But increasingly affluent Chinese are already going further afield, and the new passport rules should only fuel the trend. At least one hotel chain in Europe has hired full-time staff to deal with the crush of Chinese tour groups. Business hotels in the U.S. are beginning to cater to Chinese businesspeople, many of whom request smoking rooms and don't like to stay on the fourth floor (Chinese superstition says four is an unlucky number because it sounds the same as the Chinese word for death).
In Paris, some high-end boutiques now sport signs alerting Chinese-speakers that their language is spoken inside -- much like the "Japanese spoken here" placards seen in fancy shops 15 years ago. Other retail stores are following suit with Chinese-language training.
Indeed, the growing number of free-spending Chinese tourists highlights the shifting economic balance that has seen China become the world's fastest growing manufacturing economy. Last year, for the first time, the number of outbound Chinese international travelers surpassed the number from Japan, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association in Bangkok.
For many Chinese, "it's not a one-time thing to go abroad, but something that becomes part of their lifestyle," says John Koldowski, a managing director with the travel group. He expects the Chinese to follow the old Japanese pattern of cautiously traveling abroad in groups at first, and then striking out on their own, including taking trips to Europe and the U.S. Last year, about a quarter of a million Chinese tourists entered the U.S., despite tough restrictions on entry in the past, according to Mr. Koldowski.
Beijing beautician Kaisy Liu and her husband, Wong Xin, a salesman, aren't ready to cross the Pacific yet. But after their first-ever trip out of China this month -- a 10-day package tour of Thailand and Hong Kong -- they are looking forward to packing their bags again. "We're hoping to go to Japan or maybe Korea before the end of the year," says Mr. Wong, 28 years old, standing with his wife in the lobby of the budget-priced Newton Hotel in Hong Kong. Mr. Wong's bushy black hair was splayed over the top of a golf visor bearing a New York Yankees logo. "Compared to Beijing, the fashion sense here is better," he declares.
His wife thinks so too. Ms. Liu, dressed in tight-fitting, faded jeans and white cotton polo shirt, confesses to having a suitcase full of new clothes, jewelry and cosmetics to bring back to Beijing. The damage? Between about $2,500 and $3,800, she says. Her husband smirks when she reveals how much she has spent.
He shouldn't be surprised. According to investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase, mainland Chinese travelers now spend more per capita in Hong Kong than visitors from anywhere else, including the U.S., Japan and Europe. Though they generally opt for budget hotels, overall "mainlanders are big spenders. They come to shop," says J.P. Morgan analyst Ben Simpfendorfer. Particularly in demand are luxury goods that aren't available in China.
Though most Chinese travelers will hit Asian destinations on their first trips abroad, they are most eager to visit Europe and America, says Liu Wuxiong, general manager of the China International Travel Service in Beijing. For now, Mr. Liu and other Chinese travel agents are mulling new tour packages for destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. More trips to North America could come next year, predicts Zhu Yongde, executive vice president of China Posts & Telecom Tours in Beijing.
Countries like Germany, which had been an officially "approved" destination, have already turned into hot spots for organized Chinese tours. Big French hotel chain Accor SA has dedicated staff in Germany and France to take care of Chinese tourists -- and built up busy sales offices in Beijing and Shanghai. The number of Chinese guests at Accor's hotels in those countries, including the Mercure and Novotel brands, has been increasing about 15% a year recently, says Robert Hornman, an Accor vice president. Many Chinese use Germany as a jumping-off point to visit other European countries like France and Belgium, Mr. Hornman says.
Of course, Chinese tourists can be somewhat of a mixed blessing for hotels. Most spend very little money where they stay, eschewing meals in hotel restaurants and even phone calls from the rooms. And you can forget making money from the minibar: Some even bring their own teabags.
"They just want a decent room at a decent price," says John Tu, general manager of the BP International House hotel in Hong Kong. There, the average room rate is about $38, and about 50% of the guests come from mainland China. The figure was 20% three years ago, Mr. Tu says.
It's a lesson Accor has learned. The company's budget Ibis Hotel in Hong Kong's North Point neighborhood is a study in Spartan decor: The rooms are 11 square meters. They don't have dressers or full-length closets, and the floor space is so cramped that a 15-inch TV sits in a tight alcove carved into the wall next to the bed. Nonetheless, "this kind of room is very in demand," says hotel General Manager Leslie Leung. Most guests from the mainland board their tour buses before 9 a.m., he reports, and leave to shop all day. They don't return until after dinner.
As increasingly wealthy Chinese venture abroad -- and travel on their own, outside of tour groups -- those patterns should change, analysts say. That means companies running more expensive hotels as well as cheaper ones might have to hire Chinese-speaking staff, or make sure their satellite-TV systems offer Chinese-language channels.
来赚中国游客的钱吧
一些国家对潮水般涌入的低廉中国出口产品暴跳如雷，从电视机到毛巾，包罗万象的中国产品让他们挡都挡不住。
现在，中国游客来了。
中国在9月上旬宣布将很大程度地放开大约100个中国城市居民的旅游限制，这对中等价格的全球酒店连锁来说可能意味著巨大的商机。这一政策变化将让这个世界人口最多的国家成千上万的居民能申请到私人护照，并能更方便地出国旅游。而在以前，绝大多数居民必须取得雇主的批准方可领到护照，并经常会受到要去哪国旅游的质询。
中国还打开方便之门，让人们前往香港旅游。而香港特区政府对大陆旅客的涌入忧心忡忡，因而增加了海关检查站的人手，并准备将公屋和游船改成新的旅店。
但越来越富裕的中国人已经足行天下了，护照颁发的新规定不过是起到了推波助澜的作用而已。欧洲至少有一家连锁酒店已雇佣了全职员工来应对蜂拥而至的中国旅行团。美国的商务酒店开始迎合中国商人的喜好：他们很多人要求有吸烟室而且不喜欢住第四层（中国迷信认为四是一个不吉利的数字，因为它的发音和中文的死相近）。
在巴黎，一些高档服装店现在也挂出了标语，告诉讲中文的游客店内提供中文服务，这有点像15年前一些时尚商店门口挂的告示牌“这里说日语”。其他一些零售店也纷纷仿效，对店员进行中文培训。
的确，越来越多消费自如的中国游客说明了经济天平的倾斜，即中国已成为世界增长最快的制造业经济。曼谷的亚太旅行协会(Pacific Asia Travel Association)的数据显示，出国旅游的中国游客人数去年第一次超过了日本游客的数量。
该协会的董事总经理约翰?科尔多夫斯基(John Koldowski)说，对很多中国人来说，“出国旅游并不是只图一次痛快，而是成为他们生活方式的一部分了。”他预计，中国游客最初将遵循过去日本游客组团旅游的模式，而后就会独自出国行走，包括去欧洲和美国。科尔多夫斯基说，去年约有25万中国游客进入美国，尽管过去进入美国的限制十分严格。
北京的美容师Kaisy Liu和她丈夫王辛(Wong Xin，音译)还不准备跨太平洋旅游，他们本月计划前往泰国和香港进行10日游，这是他们的第一次出国游。28岁的王辛和他的妻子在香港丽东酒店(Newton Hotel)的大堂里休息时表示，“我们准备年底前再去日本或韩国。”留著浓密黑发的王辛戴著一顶印有纽约扬基队(New York Yankees)标识的棒球帽，他说：“和北京相比，这里的的时尚感觉更棒。”
他的妻子也这么认为。Liu小姐穿的是水洗牛仔裤，上身套了一件白色Polo T恤衫，她说她的旅行箱都装满了衣服、珠宝和化妆品，准备带回北京。她花了多少钱呢？她说，大概2,500到3,800美元。王辛听了只作傻笑状。
他不应该感到惊讶。根据投资银行J.P.摩根大通(J.P. Morgan Chase)，中国大陆游客现在在香港的人均消费超过了包括美国、日本和欧洲等其他任何地方过来的游客。J.P.摩根大通的分析师本?辛普芬多费尔(Ben Simpfendorfer)说，虽然他们一般选择入住折扣酒店，但这些大陆人消费阔绰，他们是来购物的。他们尤其想买那些大陆没有的奢侈品。
北京中国国际旅行社(China International Travel Service)总经理刘武雄说，很多中国游客第一次出国旅游时一般选择亚洲国家，但他们最想去的是欧洲和美国。中国邮电国际旅行社(China Posts & Telecom Tours)北京分社的执行副总裁朱永德称，明年可能会推出更多的北美旅游服务。
像德国这些被正式“批准”为中国公民旅游目的地的国家已成为了中国旅游团的热点旅游国家。法国大型酒店连锁公司Accor SA在德国和法国专门安排了人员接待中国游客，并在北京和上海建立了业务繁忙的销售代表处。Accor的副总裁罗伯特?霍恩曼(Robert Hornman)说，该公司旗下的酒店，如Mercure和Novotel在这些国家接待的中国游客最近一年增加了15%。霍恩曼说，很多中国游客将德国当成了前往其他欧洲国家如法国和比利时等国旅游的跳板。
当然，对酒店而言，中国游客也是贫富不均的。多数人在酒店花销很少，他们不在酒店的餐厅吃饭，甚至都不使用房间的电话。你甚至都别指望依靠房间的小吧台赚点钱：有些中国游客甚至自带了茶叶。
香港龙堡国际宾馆(BP International House hotel)的总经理John Tu说，“他们只是想要一个价钱划算条件尚可的房间。”这家酒店的平均房价是38美元，大约有一半的客人来自大陆。Tu说，三年前该酒店的大陆客户只占20%。
