The U.S.-China Tourism Year came to an end with a ceremony on Nov. 20. It was designed to strengthen tourism ties and encourage growth in arrivals - did it accomplish this goal? That is the question Daniel Meesak asked in an article for Asia Times.
"According to Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, the number of Chinese tourists that visited the United States in the first three quarters of 2016 grew by 14.7 percent year-over-year, and he expects the total arrival number to exceed 3 million by the end of the year," reports Meesak.
In terms of growth, however, this is not a good sign.
"While double-digit growth certainly means good news for the U.S. tourism industry, it still signifies the slowest growth since 2010-when growth stood at 53 percent year-over-year," notes Meesak.
"The growth of Chinese tourism to the United States also outpaces overall growth of Chinese outbound tourism, which stood at 1.6% in the first half of 2016," says Meesak, which is also good news but still shows a sign in decrease in comparison to the booming numbers of previous years.
"Just like Xi Jinping argued about Chinese GDP growth, the global tourism industry may have to adapt to a "new normal" of Chinese tourism growth," Meesak notes.
There's not data to show that this U.S.-China Tourism Year helped sustained a longer period of growth with China, but there were other benefits.
"The 10-year tourist visa now offered to Chinese tourists is one example of a policy change that industry stakeholders believe will have long-term positive effects on Chinese tourism growth, however, its introduction preceded the tourism year by a whole year," says Meesak.
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"The United States only captures 2 percent of the outbound Chinese market despite strong demand from Chinese visitors to our shores," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said during the D.C. closing ceremony - underlining the potential for continued Chinese tourism growth in the U.S.
For more on the U.S. and China's tourism partnership, read on here.
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