日韓俄成中國人出境遊熱門目的地

China’s masses of globetrotting tourists are changing their habits amid currency shifts, evolving fashions and upheavals in everything from politics to visa policies — with Japan, South Korea and Russia among the biggest beneficiaries.

隨着匯率變動、風尚演變，以及從政治到簽證政策等事情的變遷，中國的海外觀光大軍正在改變出行習慣——日本、韓國和俄羅斯成爲最大受益者。

Despite historical enmity and persistent political tensions between Beijing and Tokyo, the number of mainland Chinese tourists visiting Japan jumped to 359,000 last month, a year-on-year rise of almost 160 per cent, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation.

儘管存在歷史的仇恨以及兩國政府間持續的政治緊張，但根據日本國家旅遊局(Japan National Tourism Organisation)的數據，上月赴日旅遊的中國大陸游客數量躍升至35.9萬人，同比上升近160%。

Mainlanders’ visits to South Korea also soared, up 58 per cent to 516,787 last month against the year before, according to the Korea Tourism Organisation.

赴韓國旅遊人數也同樣飆漲，根據韓國旅遊發展局(Korea Tourism Organisation)的數據，上月赴韓旅遊的中國遊客人數達到516787人，同比增長58%。

Meanwhile, China overtook Germany in 2014 as the biggest source of foreign tourism to Russia with almost 410,000 visits, according to Rostourism.

同時，俄羅斯聯邦旅遊署(Rostourism)的數據表明，2014年中國超越德國，成爲俄羅斯的第一大海外遊客來源。

“Currency is a big factor in choosing destinations, since Chinese tourists still do a lot of shopping while travelling and they are very price-sensitive,” says Dai Bing, head of the China Tourism Academy in Beijing. “Trips to Japan and Europe have been boosted by their weak currency. We have also noticed a significant growth in tourist numbers to Russia because of currency depreciation.”

“就選擇目的地而言，貨幣是一大因素，因爲中國遊客依然在旅遊時大量購物，而且他們對價格非常敏感，”中國旅遊研究院(China Tourism Academy)院長戴斌說，“日本和歐洲的貨幣走弱提振了日本遊和歐洲遊。我們也注意到因爲俄羅斯盧布貶值，赴俄旅遊人數大幅增長。”

Last year the number of outbound tourist departures from mainland China hit 100m for the first time, according to state media.

根據中國官方媒體的報道，去年中國內地遊客出境遊次數達到了1億人次。

But almost half of that figure is accounted for by Hong Kong. Visits to the Chinese territory rose 16 per cent last year to 47m, despite street protests in September and October, but began to decline during February’s lunar new year holiday and fell even more steeply this month as anti-mainland sentiment grew, according to the Shanghai Daily.

但其中近一半人去的是香港。儘管香港在去年9月和10月爆發了街頭示威，但根據《上海日報》(Shanghai Daily)的報道，去年赴香港旅遊人數仍然增長16%，至4700萬。但今年2月農曆春節期間，赴港內地遊客數量開始下滑，而隨着香港反內地情緒的升溫，該數字在3月份以更大幅度下滑。

In recent weeks scuffles have broken out between Hong Kong residents and day-tripping mainland traders who buy goods in the city to sell over the border.

近幾周，香港市民和利用赴港一日遊，在香港購買商品帶回內地售賣的內地商人爆發了多起衝突。

But if fewer mainlanders are heading to Hong Kong to buy everything from milk powder to handbags, the numbers going further afield to shop have risen sharply — and they are coming home with a whole new range of products, from Japanese toilet seats and rice cookers to Korean skin cleansers and hydration creams.

但是，如果說前往香港購買從奶粉到手袋等各種商品的內地人減少了，那麼去更遠的地方購物的人數已大幅增長。這些遊客帶回國內的是全新的一類產品，從日本的馬桶座和電飯煲，到韓國的潔面儀和保溼霜。

“Chinese tourists now shop for a broader range of products, not just luxury goods but daily necessities”, says Mr Dai. “They no longer buy things to show off their wealth but things that they really need and are worth the price.”

“現在中國遊客購物的種類變得更廣，不僅僅是奢侈品，還包括日常必需品，”戴斌表示，“他們不再爲炫富而購物，而是購買他們真正需要，值得花那樣的價錢的東西。”

Mr Dai says Hong Kong has lost its advantage over other destinations, and not just because of political tensions or hostility from the locals. “Almost all the middle-class mainlanders who have the money to visit Hong Kong have already done so, while visa policies in other countries have been relaxed for mainlanders,” he says. “The tourism competitiveness of Hong Kong has been weakened.”

戴斌表示，香港已失去了相對於其他目的地的優勢，而這不僅是因爲政治緊張或者當地人的敵意。“幾乎所有有錢去香港的內地中產階層已經去過香港了，而其他國家對內地遊客的簽證政策已經放鬆，”他說，“香港的旅遊競爭優勢已經變弱了。”

Travel experts say Chinese are now travelling for experiences, not just for shopping. Ctrip, the Chinese online travel agent, says twice as many mainlanders will visit Japan for the spring cherry blossom season this year as last, while Australia’s largest provider of camping vans says Chinese rentals have doubled over the past year.

旅遊專家表示，中國人現在旅遊不僅僅是爲了購物，也爲了體驗。中國在線旅行社攜程(Ctrip)表示，今年在櫻花季赴日旅遊的人數是去年的兩倍，而澳大利亞最大的露營車提供商表示，過去一年裏租用露營車的中國人翻了一番。

Cultural trends are also playing an increasing role in travel choices — particularly in the growing allure of South Korea.

在出行選擇方面，文化潮流也扮演着日益重要的角色，這一點尤其表現在韓國不斷上升的吸引力方面。

Choi Kyung-un, a researcher with the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, says Chinese purchases in the country are driven by trends derived from Korean television, movies and K-pop music. “Chinese people have become more interested in South Korean culture — and the country itself,” she says. Visa procedures have also been simplified.

韓國文化和旅遊學會(Korea Culture and Tourism Institute)研究員崔京雲(Choi Kyung-un)表示，中國人在韓國購物受到了韓劇、韓國電影和韓國流行音樂潮流的驅動。她表示：“中國人對韓國文化和韓國這個國家本身更感興趣了。”