China tourists take over world, a selfie at a time

One of the strongest drivers of global economic growth isn’t financial services or startups, it’s what we do when we;re not working. We are becoming a planet of tourists.
Consider this: For the past seven years, the travel-andtourism sector has outperformed the overall economy every year, contributing as much as $7.6 trillion in 2016, including the wider impact on the economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Nowhere is this revolution more dramatic than in Asia.

A rising tide of travellers from China is spreading out across the region, out-shopping, outspending and outeating every other nation. They are filling hotels, tour buses and cruise ships. They are overwhelming airports and train stations, and they are sending home petabytes of pictures that encourage their compatriots to join the global invasion. Their ranks are being swollen by millions of others from around Asia, a generation who would rather raise their status with a foreign adventure than with a luxury bag.

“People’s personal brands are being defined by the places they visit,” said Simon Russell of London-based luxury travel group Scott Dunn. China already accounts for more than a fifth of the money spent by outbound tourists, twice as much as the next-biggest spender, the US, according to the UN World Tourism Organisation. And the Chinese have barely started — only around 5% of them even have passports, and the government is issuing about 10 million new travel documents every year.

Overwhelmingly, the new outbound travellers come from a smartphone-addicted generation that is rewriting the rules. The ubiquitous flagfollowing Chinese tour groups are giving way to what the industry calls FITs — free, independent travellers — who are using the internet to plan itineraries, book flights, translate signs and chronicle their exploits.

“A lot of customers want to do things their way,” said Chang Theng Hwee, a Singaporean who has built a business that offers bespoke holidays for wealthy Asians, “They’re not interested in joining a group.”