An article in today's NYTimes (Nov 7, 2006) has raised a rather serious issue for European travelers - it concerns the millions of Chinese tourists who could overwhelm the tourist infrastructure of some cities and top sights:

During the past year 700,000 tourists from mainland China descended on Paris - mainly flocking to mega famous tourist sights like the Eiffel Tower, where oft long lines at times seem largely Asian. And by 2020, the World Tourism Organization estimates that 100 million Chinese will take foreign trips and the overwhelmingly favorite destination will be Europe and mainly tourist meccas like Paris, London, Rome, Venice, etc.

What this tsunami of Chinese tourists will do to place like Paris is interesting to speculate as the mega tourist sights promise to be inundated.

Now i have nothing at all against this influx as we are all tourists and it wouldn't matter if millions more Americans would descend on Europe - nothing racist at all. It's just what the changes to already tourist inundated places will occur and will places like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, etc. be able to cope?

"How to accommodate the growth of visitors is something that's on everyone's mind, and the Chinese are a very big piece of that," says the director of the Paris Tourism Office, adding "that only factors like limited airline seats and limited staff to process visas is keeping the growth in check."

Most Chinese come on group tours because individual tourist visas are hard to get and they usually stay in inexpensive hotels in the suburbs and are bused around - so they gravitate mainly to the blockbuster sights - and shopping at department stores like Galeries Lafayette - Chinese tourists typically spend about $1,200 each on luxury goods and the department stores have even hired Chinese speaking personnel to help separate tourists from their money.

So though the influx may be an economic boon for France, it promises to change the face of Paris type places.

Oh well just thought it curious. And again the fact that they're Chinese is irrelevant - no racism here as they have just as much right to come as i do - and with the economic flourishing they will come.

I don't mean anything except to wonder why the article singling out Chinese tourists. Are their numbers really that much more significant than the number of Japanese tourists?

Well it did mention Japanese travelers and their experiences a few decades ago that are similar to the Chinese. At first it said they came in groups but now are more sophisticated and travel independently more and more. But it's the sheer numbers of a potential 100 million Chinese visitors that could impact tourism far more than the relative handful of Japanese. At first it said the Japanese too would grab up high-ticket consumer goods but now are more discriminate as of course they have every luxury good back home - unless Chinese who have a hard time getting them at home.

Well, I still don't understand what the serious issue is all about nor do I understand what changes that will take place in these cities due to the Chinese tourists.

why does the Paris Tourism director express concerns? 100 million more tourists? To me that would be a concern but you say it will have no impact. Me i don't know really.

You do realize that in the grand scheme of things both the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower have seen far more tourists than this and they are still there.

Millions of ANYONE could overwhelm anywhere. I kinda doubt they'll all show up at once.

Hi all,

A quick internet search yields about 36 million tourist to Paris each year, currently.

By 2020, another 100 million aren't going to make that much difference to what will have become a congested city anyway, due to increased tourism from everywhere else.

I guess that the Europeans could go visit China.

Well, China's population is about 10 times that of Japan, and its middle class is growing exponentially. The numbers speak for themselves.

Australia is already experiencing a sizeable influx of Chinese tourists, and the results aren't always good for the host country's reputation. This is because Chinese tour groups are routinely ripped off by the Chinese tour companies that dominate the trade, and the locals blamed.

As an example, unsuspecting tour groups will be directed to overpriced souvenir shops owned by interests associated with the tour company and warned to stay clear of Australian-owned shops on the grounds that "Australians are racist and will abuse you". They may also be charged $20 to step onto the beach, the charge being explained as an "Australian government tax". (I heard about that one from a horrified Chinese-Australian in-law.)

And so on. The objective of course is to funnel virtually all of the punters' hard-earned yuan back to China.

It's possible the Chinese companies drew inspiration from the inventive practices of some of their Japanese counterparts. One such was the practice of charging several hundred dollars for an optional cruise, with lunch, on Sydney Harbour. The unfortunate punters would be taken to Circular Quay, herded onto a public ferry to a beachside suburb and fed fish and chips on arrival, for a total outlay of perhaps $20 pp. Nice one!

I think the point of this article was obviously cultural and human interest -- traveling to Western Europe is a big change for the average Chinese, and that's what the article was about. It reflects changing world conditions. I find these kind of human interest/world events/anthropoligical articles very interesting, because I find changing cultures interesting, as well as general world events, history, etc.

I don't know about the numbers, but obviously if it's an addition when basically a whole population has not been able to travel (whether for political and/or economic reasons) and now can. What I don't really quite understand is how millions of Chinese average tourists have the equivalent of $1200 to blow on unnecessary luxury goods. I don't do anything like that, so how do they get that much money saved up for unnecessary goods? Actually, that's one thing I've never understood nor admired about certain Asian countries, like Japan -- the emphasis on consumerism and buying things, including brand name/designer things. It seems even worse than in the US, in many ways.

I could understand it if it were an issue of just buying some nice clothes you didn't have available or that were very different (certainly one can shop closer to home, though), but that article referred to spending that amount solely on "luxury goods". I've never spent money in Paris on what could be called luxury goods. Maybe that bottle of Annick Goutal eau de toilette I bought would be, that's about as luxury as I've ever spent. I wouldn't even want a bag or somethign with some designer name or initials on it, I think that's kind of tacky myself, to advertise for someone (regardless of what it costs).

Speaking of statistics, hopefully we'll still have oil by 2020 to fill those plane kerosine tanks.

All this really is a non issue, the market will regulate itself, prices will go up, people who don't have enough money simply can't afford to go. Maybe "off season" won't be as quiet anymore.

I think they may very well add India, Indonesia and other very populous countries to that list of developing nations whose peoples can finally afford to travel more and more, all of South Asia in fact, and Lat Am; and Africa soon to follow I am sure, with some Chinese financing....

The recent wave from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe after the fall of the 'iron curtain' should be a good preview to what's to come. Has it changed the landscape? Yes. Esp. in Cyprus, French Riviera and Italian Adriatic Coast. Serious consequences? Not that I can see.

Christina, the "average" Chinese tourist is a member of an increasingly affluent middle class and yes, status symbols are very important. Just check the number of new BMWs and Audis (admittedly usually near-stationary) in Chinese cities, and the number of people paying for a Starbucks coffee what will buy you a main course in a reasonable restaurant. (Or a Big Mac, for heaven's sake - this in one of the great culinary cultures of the world. Go figure.)

Things are different in factories where people are working 6 days a week for maybe US$100 a month, if their rapacious bosses can't find a way of bilking them of even that. You won't find them on overseas trips any time soon - but you'll find some of their children in years to come. After all, 100 million is less than 8% of China's population.

If Chinese tourism practices are any guide, expect to find Chinese syndicates building exact replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe somewhere outside Paris, complete with Chinese-owned souvenir shops.

You never know they may just recreate these sites back home... and Paris may not get the tourists they're planning for.
Take a look at this arthttp://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061107/news_1n7china.htmlicle

Sorry L84SKY, 404d on that link.
But yes, we certainly would not want newly rich foreigners buying up landmarks like the 'LONDON BRIDGE' and carting them home to build theme parks.
Smiles all round.

>recreate these sites back home.
Try "Window of the world" in Shenzhen. I heard their Eiffel Tower is quite nice

Christina,

Aside from good insights offered by Neil_Oz, I think there are some commercial aspects to Chinese tourists hoarding luxury souvenirs.
An oriental friend of mine seems to be always offered some kickback to go into LVMH or Channel or whatever, buy a bag and re-sell to the touts waiting at a corner nearby. Looks like a typical case of price arbitrage between the Parisien price and imported price in the boutiques in China.

In addition, there is a cultural custom of sharing gifts among friends/relatives/colleagues, etc. You just cannot come home empty-handed.

As for the original article, tourist numbers will have to grow only modest 8% thereabout annually from the current 35m to 100m in 2020. Sounds less scary if put this way? Anyway, I'm not concerned a bit so long as they don't all descend en masse. Before worrying about overcrowding at the Louvre or Eiffel Tower, I trust CDG will do a reasonable job in capacity control.

There's no reason to assume Chinese tourists will display similar interests to other nationalities.

Oxfordshire, for example, is beginning to see its first Mainland mass tourists, after decades of just getting the top end of HK society scouting out schools and houses. They yawn their way round Oxford for a few microseconds, clearly puzzled at why anyone would choose to study in (or look at) old buildings. They visibly brighten up immensely as the coach takes them on to Bicester Outlet Village, where they can find discount prices on whatever's currently modish back home.

And the queues they form to strip the Clark's Shoe shop are a great deal longer than at the Ralph Lauren joint.

Hey, those are my in-laws you're talking about!

Well, not really, but the truth is that my inlaws were just like millions of other Americans who rose up into the middle class and when they finally had some extra dough to spend, went to Europe with a tour group. And they did it for many years in a row. They were the original "If this is Tuesday, this must be Belgium" crowd.

There are many areas of Paris that for DECADES have been colonized by Americans, middle-class or wealthy, who pretty much did away with the local culture. Montmartre was an early example, as is Ile St Louis. But now I think of the 7eme as that way.

I lived in Paris before the renovation of the Louvre. Today, I find it pretty painful to go to the Louvre and I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate -- did I say that often enough? -- I.M. Pei's pissing right in the middle of that historic courtyard and otherwise giving people the same expereince they have inside an airport as their introduction to the Louvre. It's only in some forgotten stairwells -- I'm serious -- that you can get any sense of the historic palace and grand galleries that the Louvre once was. Those escalators -- built for fat Americans -- are just a desecration.

I was in Paris about 3 weeks ago for just a few days, and I ate in a Chinese restaurant. It was actually more interesting and fresher than most of the food I ate in Parisian cafes. And the service was very sweet. And my favorite part of Paris was the Japenese neighborhood not far from the Bourse.

Paris looks fantastic these days, and I can't help but think tourist dollars are what is making it shine.

Even now I still see no reason that this thread was even posted except to mention this particular race; were it another race that is not Asian would there be anything said? Sure the Chinese and other Asians (not Orientals) have alot of money to be able to travel to Europe that is a fact. And what about the monuments they are copying or supposedly copying from Europe? What about Las Vegas? I believe there is an Eiffel Tower there. Was it built by the Chinese?