On the Road: China on Holiday(8)

Even under ADS and group tour arrangements, some travel agencies have come up with "free and easy" overseas tours for travelers who are looking for more flexibility in itinerary and in-depth tour, rather than joining dozens of others to rush through multiple countries within 10 or 14 days. Under such a tour, the agencies mainly take care of visa, transportation and accommodation arrangement, at times, throw in several sight seeing suggestions but travelers basically have more say in deciding what to do with their time.

According to China Beijing Youth Travel Service's department chief Liu Jingkui, longer-term, in-depth tours, such as one to Europe, would be 50 percent more costly than the usual all-in-one packages due to lower traffic and higher operating cost. Liu added that the demand mainly comes from the more affluent business travelers. However, he said the best selling products currently are still packages with multiple destinations, as consumers often want to ensure "maximum return for high investment".

For a long time, international industry players have viewed China's outbound tourists in "lump sum" and generally regarded Chinese travelers as immature, overly price-sensitive, and easily satiable by superficial group sightseeing. They've also been stereotyped as disrespectful to host destination's culture and custom. The Chinese government responded to feedback indicating this by issuing a guide to govern the conduct of Chinese outbound tourists. The guide is in the form of an almost poetic slogan that advises Chinese citizens on how to behave in foreign countries.

Market research that profiles Chinese travelers is mainly based on outbound tour groups since their numbers and herd behavior are more visible. The new generation of Chinese backpackers and self-organized independent travelers receive less attention. At this stage, it is still too hard to gauge the economic and cultural significance of this latter group of Chinese tourists.

Many market watchers like to compare the development of China outbound tourism to the Japanese, stating that the two nations started to register high outflows of tourists following economic booms and use outbound tourism as a way to balance surplus international trade, with Japan having achieved this 20 years earlier. If the Japanese case is anything to go by, then the force of emerging Chinese independent travelers are one not to be underestimated.

After the flood of outbound Japanese group tourists, a wave of Japanese backpackers have since invaded all four corners of the earth, oftentimes searching for danger and adventure. Backpackers may not shop en mass at duty free outlets, but they generally show more willingness in blending into local customs and thus in frequenting small businesses and restaurants run by locals. Perhaps, when more Chinese backpackers manage to move beyond Asia, the "recognized" profile of outbound Chinese tourists will change as well.