Based on data gathered by Tourism Australia, nearly 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited Australia in 2016, spending a total of over $9 billion. (Photo : Getty Images)
Australia is growing popular among Chinese tourists who are looking for new adventures, Xinhua News Agency reported.
“Chinese travelers are more confident, more adventurous, and more experiential, and they are making more local Australian friends as they travel,” said Andy Jiang, China Country Manager of Tourism Australia, in an interview with Xinhua.
“To me, this is the true spirit of friendship between two countries, manifested through rapid development in tourism exchange,” Jiang added.
Jiang told the story of befriending two young Chinese couples during his recent trip to South Australia.
“They were young, full of passion for travel, and were telling me great experiences that they just had--tasting fresh oysters from the ocean at Coffin Bay, swimming with sea lions at Baird Bay, gazing at beautiful stars at night in the Flinders Ranges,” Jiang shared.
According to Jiang, the two couples are the perfect example of today’s Chinese travelers, who are increasingly going off the beaten path by traveling to Australia’s best-kept regional locations, such as Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, located in South Australia.
Based on data gathered by Tourism Australia, nearly 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited Australia in 2016, spending a total of over $9 billion. Experts estimate that by 2020, the Chinese market will be worth $13 billion.
Additionally, Chinese travelers have overtaken other groups as Australia’s fastest growing and highest spending international market. China also ranks as the third and fourth biggest markets in Australia for international business events arrivals and international business events spending.
Independent and affluent Chinese travelers played a large role in this growth, making them one of the primary targets of Australia’s marketing campaigns in China. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also encouraged Chinese people to travel to China for the 2017 China-Australia Year of Tourism.
“The more Chinese people visit our nation and the more Australians come here to China, the better we understand each other and the more opportunities we have for further engagement and cooperation at every level,” Premier Li said during his recently concluded official visit to Australia.
