Agencies Focus on Making More U.S. Travel Suppliers “China Ready” in 2105: The launch on Nov. 14, 2014 of the agreement between the United States and China increasing the validity of tourist visas to each other’s nation from one year to ten years and of student visas from one to five years will likely be the most significant boost to increased visitor arrivals from China since the latter acted in late 2007 to allow the promotion of tourism to the America by U.S. travel suppliers.
It is as if DMOs and travel suppliers are entering China 2.0—a phase in which those DMOs and travel suppliers that have already proved successful in attracting and servicing the market will grow their numbers and those interesting in entering the market will find support and opportunities that were not readily available just a few years ago.Two seminars last month—one hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce and its National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) and International Trade Administration (ITA), and the other by Brand USA—in which the presentations focused primarily on the programs, personnel and resources now available to those who want to enter the market. In the case of NTTO, it presented data for what it calls the Greater China Market, which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. For the previous five years, the common thematic of such conferences was introductory in nature and no one alluded to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Commercial officers from locations throughout China, as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong, took part in the NTTO seminar.
Dimensions of the Market: In the history of record keeping at NTTO and its predecessor agencies in the Commerce Department, there is nothing comparable to the growth rate and size of the China market among all overseas source markets to the U.S. (And, as stratospheric as the NTTO numbers below seem, according to a Jan. 2 article in the China Daily, Shao Qiwei, director of China’s National Tourism Bureau, estimated that there will be 60 million Chinese visiting the U.S. in the coming six years.)
In Perspective—Arrivals from China 2004-2021
(000s)
| Year | No. of Visitors | Year | No. of Visitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 203 | 2012 | 1474 |
| 2005 | 270 | 2013 | 1807 |
| 2006 | 320 | 2014 | 2,240† |
| 2007 | 397 | 2015 | 2,666† |
| 2008 | 493 | 2017 | 3,649† |
| 2009 | 525 | 2019 | 4,910† |
| 2010 | 802 | 2021 | 7,300† |
| 2011 | 1.089 | Change—2004 to 2021 | 7097 |
† Forecast
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA), National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO)
The early signs are that the Nov. 12 USA-China visa agreement will generate a takeoff in new visa-holder numbers, as well as increased repeat visits from those holding the 10-year visa. Warren Wilson, vice consul in the non-Immigrant visa section at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, said that the vast majority of those applying for the 10-year visa will receive them, adding, “Our sense is that our issuance rate of close to 90 percent will remain the same,” even as there is “massive growth in Chinese visa applications.” There were 1.95 million non-immigrant visa applications in 2014, a 240 percent increase since 2010, he said.
Those who took part in the NTTO presentation received different statistical sets presented by Ron Erdmann, senior research analyst, that pointed to the dominant role that Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York airports have in receiving visitors from China, which suggests that those interested in entering the market think about partnering with the receptive tour operators located in or near these gateways.
Top Five Ports of Entry for Visitors to USA
From China, Taiwan and Hong Kong
| China | Taiwan | Hong Kong |
|---|---|---|
| LAX—21% | LAX—28% | LAX—20% |
| SFO—14% | SFO—18% | SFO—20% |
| JFK—11% | GUM—11% | JFK—20% |
| ORD—10% | JFK—11% | ORD-8% |
| EWR—5% | HNL—5% | *Blaine, Wash.—6% |
*Blaine is at the U.S. border with Canada and 20 miles from Vancouver International Airport
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA), National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO)
- From China, 61 percent of all passengers arrive in the top five ports of entry listed.
- From Taiwan, 73 percent of all visitors arrive in the top five ports of entry listed.
- From Hong Kong, 74 percent of all visitors arrive in the top five ports of entry listed.
Update—Top Trends for 2015: During the same window of time that the two seminars took place, a leading expert on the China market, Attract China, Inc.—it has been a regular presenter at NAJ’s Active America China trade show—released some findings based on its proprietary research in which it listed its top five 2015 travel trends that industry leaders need to know about Chinese tourism. They include the following:
- The Number of Independent Travelers Will Continue to Rise
- Chinese Visitors Are Seeking Authentic Local Experiences
- The Growing Importance of Search and Booking Trips on Mobile
- An Increasing Number of Direct Flights
- The Rise of Union Pay Cards (Union Pay is the most widely used bank card in the world, with a global market share larger than American Express, MasterCard and Visa combined, and accounts for 90 percent market share of all cards in China.)
The two seminars revealed how, in just three years—since the start of 2012—there has been a marked change in the priorities of both the U.S. Department of Commerce and Brand USA in dealing with China. Earlier NTTO conferences and seminars featured mostly presentations and analyses of arrivals data while, three years ago, a fledgling Brand USA didn’t even have a complete marketing plan for the 2011-12 Fiscal Year in place, and current president and CEO Chris Thompson was still heading up Visit Florida.
And now, following an infusion of funding that expanded the number of consular offices and visa processing officers, commercial service officers in China are performing such services for U.S. travel suppliers as distribution of materials at trade shows to staging real-time, live video presentations for destinations. Brand USA, meanwhile, has in-country presence in all major regions through its public relations reps and a suite of products or services that numbers in the dozens, with a strong emphasis on digital marketing techniques and services.
Resources: U.S. Commercial Service In-Country Contacts for U.S. Travel Suppliers
| Embassy/Consular Office | Commercial Officer/Commercial Specialist | Phone number and e-mail address |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | Ms. Rebecca Balogh | 86.10.8531.3129 |
| Rebecca.balogh@trade.gov | ||
| Beijing | Ms. Wei Jing | 86.10.8531.4296 |
| Jing.wei@trade.gov | ||
| Guangzhou | Mr. Barry Zhang | 86.20.3814.5442 |
| barry.zhang@trade.gov | ||
| Changdu | Ms. Fan-Li | 86.28.8508.6567 |
| li.fan@trade.gov | ||
| Shanghai | Ms. Stellar Chu | 86.21.6279.7630, ext.8750 |
| stellar.chu@trade.gov | ||
| Shenyang | Ms. Sun Dongmei | 86.24.2322.1198, ext. 8142 |
| dongmai.sun@trade.gov | ||
| Hong Kong | Ms. Kimmy Lee | kimmy.lee@trade.gov |
| Taiwan | Mr. Henley Jones | 886.2.2720.1550, ext. 386 |
| henley.jones@trade.gov | ||
| Taiwan | Ms. Mei Mei Mei Wong | 886.2.2720.1550, ext. 309 |
| meimei.wong@trade.gov |
Resources—Key Contacts for Learning More about Brand USA’s China Market Entry Program:
Karyn Gruenberg, vice president, partner programs, kgruenberg@thebrandusa.com
Sarah Dickson, director, partnership development, sdickson@thebrandusa.com
Philip Joseph, partnership development manager, pjoseph@thebrandusa.com
Dianne Turner, partnership development manager (Southeast), dturner@thebrandusa.com
