There are great differences in tourism consumption at home and abroad, and tourism in some places is ＂shameless＂
Tourism consumption at home and abroad is being staged. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, in 2015, China’s consumption abroad was 1.5 trillion yuan, more than half of which was spent on shopping. According to the data of the World Tourism Council, the total spending of international tourists in China in the same period was 384.6 billion yuan, only a slight increase of 2.97% compared with 2014. Data from the Ministry of Commerce also show that the service trade deficit of China in 2015 was $136.62 billion. According to industry estimates, China’s tourism deficit in 2015 is estimated to be more than 80 billion US dollars (about 500 billion yuan).
The "Economic Information Daily" reporter found that on the one hand, problems such as "sky-high price" cheating and low-cost group service fraud in the domestic tourism market have been repeatedly banned, which has led to the gradual formation of rejection among tourists; On the other hand, foreign tourism markets are keeping a close eye on China’s "golden owners", relaxing visa policies have been introduced one after another, and the shopping experience has been continuously improved. The growth trend of outbound travel may continue. The "tourism deficit" has begun to have a reverse effect, so it is urgent to improve the domestic tourism environment.
"Ice and fire are two worlds" and the "scissors difference" between domestic and foreign tourism consumption is obvious.
China has long been a deficit country in service trade. According to a set of data from the Ministry of Commerce, the service trade deficit of China in 2015 was US$ 136.62 billion, which was 14.6% lower than that of US$ 159.93 billion in 2014. This is the third year since 2013 that China’s service trade deficit has remained above $100 billion. Accordingly, some insiders estimate that according to the experience in 2014, since the tourism trade deficit accounts for more than 60% of the total service trade deficit, China’s tourism deficit in 2015 is estimated to be more than 80 billion US dollars (about 500 billion yuan).
Different from China’s long-term trade in goods in a state of trade surplus, service trade has continued its deficit trend for many years.
The data shows that China’s service trade has been in deficit for 21 consecutive years from 1995 to 2015. In 2014, China’s total import and export of services was US$ 604.34 billion, up by 12.6% compared with 2013, and the growth rate was much higher than the average level of global service trade of 4.7%. The service trade deficit in that year was US$ 159.93 billion. In 2015, this figure was $136.62 billion.
At the same time, according to the data of the World Tourism Council, in 2015, the total spending of international tourists in China was 384.6 billion yuan, a slight increase of 2.97% compared with 2014. Moreover, the number of tourists to China has dropped significantly in recent years. While tourists from China are constantly engaged in outbound travel, China’s ability to attract international tourists is far less attractive than leaving the country.
However, officials of the National Tourism Administration do not agree with the statement of "tourism deficit", and think that the outbound tourism expenditure and inbound tourism income are not the same statistical caliber at present, which is not comparable and cannot be simply subtracted. At present, China has not established a survey and statistics system for overseas travel expenses.
However, the industry pointed out that a big trend at present is that the income will gradually increase on the basis of stable employment. In 2015, China’s GDP reached 67.7 trillion yuan, nearly 11 trillion US dollars, and the per capita GDP reached about 8,000 US dollars. Some cities in the eastern coastal areas have exceeded 10,000 US dollars, even more than 15,000 US dollars. Middle-and high-income consumers are gathering, so overseas shopping is still increasing.
The domestic tour of "asking for money and shameless" has gradually been rejected by some tourists.
Following the cancellation of the 5A-level qualification of Shanhaiguan Scenic Spot in Qinhuangdao last October, two 5A-level scenic spots have been stripped of their star-rated hats recently. It is understood that the chaos in the domestic tourism market has been repeatedly banned, and there are frequent problems such as "sky-high price" and low-cost group service fraud.
Too many tourists complain that the industry chaos of "extremely high prices and poor service" in some local tourism markets in China has reached the point of "asking for money and being shameless".
According to industry insiders, the relative downturn of inbound tourism may be due to many problems in China’s domestic tourism environment, such as the phenomenon of "sky-high price" and low-cost group service fraud.
In March this year, when the reporter interviewed in Sanya, Hainan, a Beijing tourist said that he bought Sakyamuni in Honggang New Trade City when he was traveling in Sanya, which was called 20 yuan/Jin in bulk and 15 yuan/Jin in the whole box. He bought a whole box of 13.9 Jin at 190 yuan’s expense. However, when I opened the carton after returning home, I found that there was a thick stack of wet toilet paper at the bottom of the carton, and the net weight of Sakyamuni was only 5.5 kg. Calculated, the fruit bought by the tourist in the whole box is more expensive than that in 80 yuan.
The relevant person in charge of Sanya Tourism Bureau said helplessly that as a tourist city, the phenomenon of cheating customers in Sanya does exist. For this reason, Sanya has established the first tourist police in China, and vigorously rectified the chaos in the tourism market.
In addition to the phenomenon of high-priced cheating, low-priced group fraud also occurs from time to time. Mr. Chen and his wife and daughter traveled to Beijing to participate in a "One-day Tour of the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs" project. At that time, the publicity price was 100 yuan per person, including admission fee, transportation fee and meal fee, and lunch was a table meal with "twelve dishes and one soup".
However, soon after boarding the bus, Mr. Chen was asked to pay the 150 yuan cable car fee for each person. The so-called "twelve dishes and one soup" has also been reduced to "eight dishes and one soup", which is not enough for a dozen people at a table.
Mr. Chen also told reporters that tourists spend far more time in shops selling jade than visiting the Great Wall, and many tourists choose to pay for it because they are embarrassed.
In addition, every holiday, from the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Huashan, and then to the West Lake and Putuo Mountain, there is no shortage of people, and the traffic on the expressway is congested. Coupled with the single tourist souvenirs of various scenic spots all the year round and the rising ticket prices every year, the poor travel experience has made tourists have a certain rejection of domestic tourism.
It is understood that there are many reasons for the stars being picked up in two 5A-level scenic spots, namely, Orange Island and Shenlongxia, such as serious potential safety hazards, poor environmental sanitation, serious deterioration of tourism service functions, and irregular management, etc., but in fact, the crux of all these reasons is that the scenic spots only pay attention to economic benefits but ignore management and services.
On the other hand, in addition to the above problems, "negative factors such as language barriers, visa procedures, travel expenses, air quality and inadequate tourism management have jointly restricted the development space of inbound tourism in China." Feng Rao of the Honeycomb Tourism Research Center said.
"More people, more money, faster coming" outbound tour aims at China’s "money bag"
Compared with some domestic tours that are gradually neglected, the consumption growth of Chinese’s outbound travel has made many travel agencies at home and abroad stunned. "More people, more money, come quickly," a travel agency official told the Economic Information Daily. According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, in 2015, China’s consumption abroad was 1.5 trillion yuan, of which at least 700 billion to 800 billion yuan was spent on shopping. Middle-and high-income people spend a large proportion in overseas shopping, and they mainly buy luxury brands and high-end brands to high-quality and cost-effective consumer goods.
Some insiders believe that many favorable factors, such as relatively guaranteed service and relaxed visa policy, are the main reasons for the relative popularity of outbound travel. In particular, shopping tours abroad have tried their best to target the money bags of China consumers.
From the electrical stores in Akihabara, to Galeries Lafayette in Paris, to the tropical beaches in Bali, China tourists have become the most popular "gold owners" in many tourist attractions around the world.
Ms. Ye, who prefers high-end skin care products, told reporters: "Buying some well-known brands of cosmetics abroad is at least one-third or even half cheaper than domestic counters. If you catch up with discount seasons such as Christmas and Thanksgiving, the price can be more favorable. "
The person in charge of flight steward products told the reporter that after the new tariff policy, the duty-free quota is more relaxed, which is very attractive to people who go shopping abroad (they can enjoy the duty-free tax allowance of 3,000 yuan per person at entry and exit ports), and overseas shopping is likely to be more popular.
In addition to the attractiveness of overseas shopping, many factors such as the loose visa policy, the lower exchange rates of many countries and the richer routes have also led to the popularity of outbound travel.
The relevant person in charge of Ctrip said that, first of all, the exchange rate continues to fall, which is good for outbound consumption. Take the exchange rate between China and South Korea as an example. Since 2015, the cost of traveling and shopping to Japan and South Korea has been much lower than in previous years, and the number of Japanese tourists visiting these two countries has been on the rise. For example, in 2015, tourists who traveled to Seoul for free travel spent nearly 3,500 yuan per capita, down 12% compared with 2014; In 2015, the per capita spending on free travel to Tokyo and Osaka also decreased by 3% and 6% respectively compared with 2014.
"Secondly, the visa-free policy also provides convenience. For example, Jeju Island and Bali are visa-free for China tourists, and Thailand has opened its visa policy for more than half a year. As more and more countries liberalize visa conditions for China, China tourists will have more choices for outbound travel in the future. " The relevant person in charge of Ctrip told the reporter.
In addition, the continuous enrichment of routes has also stimulated the growth of tourists’ outbound travel. According to the data of Industrial Securities, the total number of passengers in China international aviation market increased from 31.92 million to 50.07 million in 2010-2014, with an increase of 57%, among which the number of China tourists increased by 131%, and the international routes maintained a high growth rate of over 30% in the first three quarters of 2015.
Taking the United States as an example, Qunar.com data shows that in 2015, there were 75 new weekly direct flights between China and the United States, an increase of more than 30% over 2014. The continuous increase of route capacity has actually lowered the flight fare between the two countries.
The growth trend of outbound travel may continue. Shi Yuduan, CMO of Ctrip’s Tourism Division, told reporters that at present, among the tourists in China, outbound travel only accounts for 40%, while the proportion of Chinese with passports is less than 10%, and most of Chinese has not traveled abroad. A large number of tourists have entered the outbound travel market from domestic travel, with an increase of 10 million. This trend will be maintained for a long time.
China has formed a middle class and a high-income group with a scale of hundreds of millions, and tourism, especially outbound travel, has been regarded as a key factor in the quality of life. "According to Ctrip’s data, the consumption level and travel frequency of this group are very high. The most people go abroad for more than 10 times a year, and the maximum cost of a single trip is 1.38 million yuan to travel around the world." Shi Yuduan said.
Tang Lan, senior vice president of Ctrip.com, said that in 2015, China tourists spent 11,205 yuan per capita on overseas travel and shopping, a year-on-year increase of 21%. "China tourists" who are not short of money have already become the focus of global tourism. With the increasing number of overseas tourists from China and the improvement of national consumption capacity, the scale of overseas tourism shopping will continue to show a trend of rising volume and price.