China’s Tourism – What does it mean for Australia?
“Nearly one in ten international tourists worldwide is now Chinese, with 97.3m outward-bound journeys from the country last year, of which around half were for leisure”
I first visited China, as part of a healthcare delegation representing South Australia to Shandong Province, visiting cities including Jinan, Qingtao and Qufu to view their dental healthcare system. We travelled via Hong Kong to Beijing and back via Shanghai cities. When I was in Beijing in 1987, I was surprised to find myself virtually alone with our small delegation in the Forbidden City with only a small handful of foreign tourists and virtually no locals. There were no foreigners in Jinan, Qingtao and Qufu then.
Back then, Chinese people couldn’t afford to travel even within their own country and, in any case, travelling domestically was discouraged and in some cases even prohibited. How much has changed!
“$131 million will be invested in tourism, major events and business events across the State, including $58 million to secure major events and $47 million to support the growth of tourism in both regional NSW and Sydney.
“In addition, the NSW Government will introduce a new $110 million Regional Tourism Infrastructure Fund, through Restart NSW, to deliver infrastructure works that facilitate regional tourism growth in NSW and increase the economic competitiveness of the State.
According to reports about Affluent Consumers, Marketing Luxury trends, Destination NSW says that the China luxury holiday market is now the largest segment of the luxury holiday market to both NSW and Australia.