Chinese footfall on a high in Europe
European countries are experiencing a surge in inbound tourists from China during the first half of the year. The main reasons for this trend is said to be the changing tastes of Chinese tourists – from shopping to art and culture. Moreover, the cold reception from Trump’s America also considered a factor for Chinese tourists to opt for European countries.
Recent surveys states, Chinese tourists are avoiding package tours to Europe to strike out on their own trips to unexplored locations, than the popular names in the tourism map.
Bookings for the month of July and August in Europe are marked 4 per cent more from the same period of last year.
The United States president’s stand on trade relations with Beijing and illegal immigration, as well as his recent instructions for travel ban for some of the Muslim-majority countries; have certainly affected the Chinese interests to visit USA, though his words were not directed at Chinese visitors.
Chinese bookings for United States are showing a decline of more than 9 per cent for the first half of the year 2018, when compared to the same period last year.
Chinese tourists visit to Europe in a recovery state, after the downfall in 2015 following Islamist attacks in France and other European cities. France, the last country to be in the track, has been experiencing strong bookings growth this summer, around 9 per cent more than last year, according to statistics from ‘ForwardKeys’, the data consultants.
Chinese tourists are collectively the world’s biggest spenders on international tourism, amounting to USD 258 billion during 2017, as per the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
