中国游客开始青睐自助出国游_BEC初级作文

中国游客开始青睐自助出国游

In addition, the growth in online resources has encouraged independent travel. Sites such as Ctrip, Elong and Kuxun allow users to search for and book flights and hotels themselves, while others such as Qyer and Mafengwo offer free, Lonely Planet-esque practical guides and forums that help Chinese-speakers to plan their own adventure.

Meanwhile, websites such as Zanadu offer access to the kind of “aspirational accommodation” that is seen often in films, glossy magazines and billboards (think stilted private suites hovering atop the ocean in the Maldives) but is rarely offered as part of a tour itinerary. Zan Wu, the founder of Zanadu, says, “Our typical users are not necessarily super rich. They might be white collar workers making 15,000 RMB [$2,460] a month, but they’ll happily spend $250 a night on a hotel. They feel comfortable about their income and their income growth in the future. They like to enjoy life.”

As luxury accommodation becomes just as important to these travelers as ticking off the sights, money is redirected from traditional tour operators to hotels. These hotels recognize that the Chinese are now the world’s largest source of tourism dollars and are quickly learning how to accommodate them in the form of Chinese language websites, Mandarin-speaking staff, and smaller touches such as offering Chinese food at breakfast and Chinese tea and television in the guest rooms.

Yet perhaps the biggest reason that more Chinese people are traveling independently abroad is that it has simply become a lot easier to obtain visas. As late as the 1980s, only Chinese people on business and official trips were permitted to travel overseas, with government approval needed for every single visit. Then, in the 1990s, the government introduced the unique Approved Destination Status System, which paved the way for group travel abroad. Soon thereafter, China’s neighbors began issuing individual “leisure visas” and visas on arrival, but most Western nations were reluctant to follow suit.