Fewer Chinese visit US as travel sector hit by trade tensions

A ferry full of passengers steams toward the Statue of Liberty in December 2018, in New York. Photo: IC

US travel agencies are redoubling their efforts to stem a bleeding of Chinese tourist dollars as more mainland visitors are flocking to Russia, South America and even the North and South Poles as a result of turbulence in China-US relations and tighter US visa restrictions. 

A year-long trade war and two official travel warnings have taken a toll on the number of Chinese tourists visiting the US. In the first half of this year, the number dropped 4 percent year-on-year, the Associated Press reported. 

“Chinese are feeling the pinch of tightening visa policies, but they also feel genuine concern over the wider travel environment,” Xu Xiaolei, manager of marketing at China’s CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday.  

By country, China was the largest source of tourist dollars for the US in 2018, with the travel and hospitality sector employing about 1.2 million people, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Although China remained in the top spot, the number of Chinese tourists to the US dropped 6 percent in 2018, the first decline in 15 years, for various reasons including the bilateral trade war, Xinhua said.

The technology, education and tourism sectors have become collateral damage in the US-initiated trade war, which has spread beyond broad economic measures.  

In June, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Ministry of Education issued warnings over increasing harassment by US law enforcement officers at border check points. 

The woes involving people-to-people exchange got worse during a recent spat over US restrictions on Chinese diplomats.

“Since the warnings in the summer, we’ve seen a wave of customers canceling their planned trips to the US. As a result we expect a 30 percent drop in the number of customers going to the US in the third and fourth quarters,” Xu said. 

The CEO of an artificial intelligence (AI) company based in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Global Times that he cancelled his plan to travel to the US last year and won’t fly to the country during the next two years amid the heated China-US technology war.

“One of my friends who is also in the AI industry travelled to the US in recent months and was questioned for a long time by US customs about his motivation for going to the US. This really frightens me and I don’t want to put my personal safety at a risk,” the CEO said. 

Is AI next?

He indicated that after the US’ brutal crackdown on Huawei and accusations involving Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, China’s rising AI industry players may be the next target. 

A number of US cities and states from Arizona to San Francisco to Boston are striving to boost their attractiveness to tourists amid the headwinds of the China-US tensions. Measures include rolling out packages and special rates for the upcoming Spring Festival holidays to beefing up marketing presences, the Associated Press reported. 

But the efforts alone of the US travel sector won’t be enough to reverse the decline in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the US, said Zhang Lingyun, director of the Tourism Development Academy at Beijing Union University.

“Tourism is a sensitive industry,” Zhang said. “The US is a long-range, high-cost destination for Chinese tourists, so it is more subject to being ditched if there is a general feeling among would-be tourists that they might fall victim to discrimination out there.”  

In this regard, Japan serves as an example. Its services industry is almost never politicized and this trait helped the country’s tourism industry to navigate the strains in the bilateral relationship several years ago, Zhang said. 

Xu said alternative destinations such as the EU and Russia, or more exclusive choices in South America and even the North and South Poles, are gaining.

Zhang said that sentiment aside, consumers are quite practical in terms of tourism expenses, and exchange rates and purchasing power directly affect their travel decisions.

Not all Chinese tourists feel discriminated against. A 27-year-old Beijing resident who just completed a honeymoon trip to the US West Coast told the Global Times that he and his wife were treated very nicely by Americans during their trip. 

“Strangers even gave me a hat when they heard we were on our honeymoon,” the resident said. 

Xu said “a rebound can also be quick and we are not giving up the US destination due to its importance.”

Newspaper headline: Fewer Chinese tourists visit US