Record spending spurs race by govts for Chinese tourist dollars

Monday, 9 February 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Embassies are re-writing visa rules and governments are hammering out aviation pacts as record spending by Chinese travellers sets off a race around the world for a share of the Chinese tourist dollar. Chinese spending on international travel in 2014 rose to $ 165 billion from $ 129 billion in 2013, the biggest percentage increase in two years, according to data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange last week. Chinese disposable incomes have been steadily rising and would-be travellers got an additional boost in the past year from favourable foreign exchange rates, with the yuan appreciating more than 10% against the yen and the Australian dollar. The gains versus the euro have been even greater, at more than 14%, and the yuan set a record against the single currency last month. Governments near and far are keen to get their countries onto Chinese itineraries. In November, the United States signed a landmark deal with China extending one-year visas issued to Chinese travellers to up to a decade. This year Malaysia and Indonesia are planning visa exemptions, while Thailand is considering exempting visa fees, which were briefly suspended last year. Australia in January signed an agreement with China allowing more passenger flights from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with immediate effect. Air traffic data for China’s big airlines confirms a rising preference for overseas travel in the world’s most populous nation. Air China’s international routes recorded 14.6% growth in 2014 in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), a gauge of traffic, versus 6.1% for domestic routes, Reuters calculations show. China Southern Airlines’ international RPK growth was 20.2% versus 10.0% domestically. China Eastern Airlines posted international RPK growth of 4.4%.

China to crack down on foreign casinos seeking Chinese gamblers

BEIJING (Reuters): China will fight attempts by foreign casinos to lure its citizens abroad, a senior police official said on Friday, which could deal a blow to the gaming firms in Macau and Asian countries that rely on these punters for most of their revenue. Chinese, among the world’s most prolific gamblers, often travel to the Chinese territory of Macau, South Korea, the Philippines or Australia, as gambling is illegal in mainland China, except for heavily regulated state-sanctioned lotteries Hua Jingfeng, a deputy bureau chief at the Ministry of Public Security, said illegal gambling remained a problem even though the government was “forcefully keeping it in check.” “Some foreign countries see our nation as an enormous market and we have investigated a series of cases,” Hua told reporters, according to a transcript on state media websites. “A fair number of neighbouring countries have casinos, and they have set up offices in China to attract and drum up interest from Chinese citizens to go abroad and gamble. This will also be an area that we will crack down on.” He did not elaborate. Paradise Co, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment, SJM Holdings and Melco Crown are some of the operators that depend on Chinese gamblers. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s protracted crackdown on corruption and conspicuous spending has kept wealthy Chinese gamblers away from Macau, the world’s biggest gambling hub, where gaming revenues last year fell for the first time since casinos were liberalised in 2001. At the same time, casino operators around Asia have been aggressively courting Chinese gamblers, with many relying on Macau or mainland junkets to lure high rollers. Casinos are not allowed to legally advertise in mainland China, but operators have skirted around the issue by promoting the resorts where the casinos are located. Hua said the government was also seeking to crack down on a “small number” of police and government officials who are guilty of collusion in covering up gambling and providing an umbrella of protection for it. Last year hundreds of people were detained in the southern city of Dongguan, which lies close to Hong Kong, in a sweep against prostitution and gambling dens.