Metro
Beijingers go on shopping spree in US
By Zhao Yanrong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-09 08:01
While people in western countries are tightening their belts to survive the economic slump this winter, affluent Beijingers are packing their cases for New Year shopping holidays abroad.
The city's major travel agencies have come up with lavish shopping trip offers to the United States during the Christmas holiday and told METRO they are already selling well.
The Asia and Pacific Travel and Tourist Co Ltd (APTT) is working with 11 travel agencies and airlines for 1,000 Chinese citizens, of which 400 are local Beijingers, to spend their Chinese New Year in New York.
"It is the biggest group we have ever arranged," said Shao Guoliang, president of APTT.
"This promotion has not been finalized but we are optimistic about our American market," he said.
The China International Travel Service Co Ltd is also promoting a similar product to organize people to go on a shopping trip to the US.
"This is the first time we have promoted a shopping trip to America. We started pushing our Las Vegas Sunshine Christmas and Shopping trip at the beginning of December, and all the seats have already been sold," said Zhang Wei, general manager of the outbound department of China International Travel Service Co Ltd. Zhang also said because the trip was so popular, they are now creating additional trips to other parts of the country.
Tourism visa applications have increased compared to earlier in the year, the US embassy in Beijing reported.
A recent US Department of Commerce report estimated that Chinese tourists spend, on average, $7,200 per trip to the US.
According to a report released by the China Tourist Academy (CTA), 75 percent of Beijing travelers spent more than $20,000 each for overseas trips last year, with shopping as the main event.
Experts from the CTA predicted a 9 percent growth in Chinese overseas travel this year.
The US is expected to become the most popular outbound tourism destination for Beijing residents in 2010.
"The number of Chinese tourists is increasing this year," Zhu Jun, the Chinese representative of New York Travel Bureau, said on Monday.
"Over 400,000 Chinese visited the US last year, and about 60 percent of them were here for business.
"But this year we expect 60 percent of the Chinese visitors will come to the US for holidays, and will enjoy the biggest shopping season of the year."
Zhu is confident that the US will become one of the most popular outbound destinations in 2010 for Chinese tourists, because Chinese people from more cities are able to apply for American tourist visas.
The US was ranked as the fifth most popular overseas destination on an annual top 10 list of outbound trips drawn up by famous Chinese travel agencies on Nov 26. It was unranked in 2008.
(China Daily 12/09/2009 page25)
