The return of Chinese tourism?

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 February 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Chinese citizens are once again allowed to travel internationally and the global tourism industry is ready to welcome them with open arms. Why? Chinese tourism has meant big money in the past. In 2019, Chinese travelers spent a fifth of all tourist dollars. But a full rebound in Chinese tourism might be a ways off.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:11.5	This is the indicator from Planet Money. I'm Patty Hirsch.
0:14.1	And I'm Emily Fang. I'm one of NPR's international correspondents and I cover China.
0:19.1	Emily, welcome back to the show. It's lovely to have you. Thanks for joining us.
0:22.2	Thank you. I think this is the first episode I've done with you and it's lovely to be here.
0:25.5	Yeah, may I wish you a happy lunar new year, year of the rabbit, I believe.
0:29.3	Or cat, depending on who you ask. All I know is it's not my horoscope, which is the rooster.
0:34.4	I'm actually a sheep or a goat and I'm not sure if it's destined to be a prosperous year for me,
0:39.8	but I'm certainly keeping my fingers crossed.
0:42.4	Well, I can tell you one sector of the global economy that feels like it might have a better year.
0:47.5	And that's the global tourism industry because after nearly three years of your total lockdown,
0:53.1	the citizens of China are once again allowed to travel outside that country's borders.
0:57.9	Which means that anyone even remotely connected to the tourism business is quivering with anticipation,
1:03.9	because Chinese tourists are big money, huge money in fact.
1:07.6	In 2019, Chinese travelers spent $277 billion. That's a fifth of the global total
1:14.3	lightlight by international tourists. That is a lot of money.
1:17.3	Yeah. And so in today's show, we're going to look at the recovery and Chinese tourism,
1:21.6	how big it could be and who it could benefit most. That's coming up after the break.
1:34.2	Pre-pandemic, one of the hottest destinations for Chinese tourists was a farm
1:38.6	on the island of Tasmania in Australia. Chinese visitors to the farm
1:42.8	love to be here. They want to be here. You know, it's full of fresh air and beautiful flowers and,
1:46.9	you know, all the good things. This is Robert Ravens. He's the managing director of
	...

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