行萬里路: 中國人去年出境遊支出升至世界第一

With their matching hats and bullhorn-equipped tour guides, Chinese tour groups may not win many style points, but according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization they’re doing more than anyone else prop up the global tourism industry.

雖然從旅行團成員統一佩戴的旅行帽和配備擴音器的導遊來看，中國旅行團缺少了一些時尚氣息，但聯合國下屬機構世界旅遊組織(World Tourism Organization)公佈的數據顯示，中國遊客對全球旅遊業的貢獻最大。

China’s spending on outbound travel swelled to $102 billion last year, a 40% jump from 2011. That surge sent China screaming past Germany and the U.S. ─ the former No. 1 and No. 2 spenders, respectively ─ which both saw tourist outlays increase 6% year-on-year to around $84 billion in 2012, the UNWTO said in a statement on its website.

中國人去年花在出境游上的支出膨脹至1,020億美元（合人民幣6,330億元），同2011年相比增長了40%。聯合國世界旅遊組織在其網站上發佈的一份聲明中說，這一增幅令中國迅速超越德國和美國。後兩者在之前是出境遊支出最高的兩個國家。2012年德美兩國出境旅遊支出均同比增長6%，至大約840億美元。

Thanks in part to growing disposable incomes and an easing of travel restrictions, 83 million Chinese citizens left their country in 2012, up from 10 million a decade ago, the UNWTO said.

世界旅遊組織說，一定程度上得益於中國人可支配收入的不斷增長以及中國對旅行限制的逐步放鬆，中國2012年的出境遊客量達到8,300萬人次，遠高於10年前的1,000萬人次。

The rise of the Chinese travel market has big implications for businesses, with everyone from airlines and hoteliers to luxury brands and banks already beginning to change their strategies to attract China’s well-heeled tourists. Hotel chains like the Hilton and cruise operators like Royal Caribbean have begun rolling out special Chinese services such as Vivienne Tam slippers and $50, 000 industrial-sized woks for better noodles. American Express recently teamed with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to launched special electronic travelers cheques for the Chinese market.

中國旅遊市場的增長對諸多行業的企業都會產生巨大影響，從航空公司和酒店運營商，到奢侈品牌和銀行，這些行業的所有企業都已經開始轉變其經營策略，以吸引中國那些富有的遊客。希爾頓(Hilton)等酒店連鎖企業和皇家加勒比(Royal Caribbean)等遊輪運營企業已經開始推出專門針對中國客人的特色服務，如向他們提供華人設計師譚燕玉(Vivienne Tam)設計的限量版拖鞋, 有的商家還添置了價值50,000美元的專業用鐵鍋，以便能煮出更好的麪條。美國運通(American Express)最近與中國工商銀行(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)合作，推出了專門針對中國市場的電子旅行支票。

Even lesser-known businesses like the South Coast Plaza shopping mall in southern California have started adding payment services and Mandarin-speaking concierges so that Chinese travelers can pay with their country’s credit cards and get advice from personal stylists in their own language.

甚至像美國南加州的South Coast Plaza購物中心等不太知名的企業也增加了新的支付服務內容以及配備了會說普通話的禮賓員，以便中國遊客能用他們本國的信用卡付款並能獲得個人造型師以中文提供的建議。

Many Chinese tourists plan their travel specifically with shopping in mind, as taxes on luxury goods boost price tags by 30% to 50% in China. The price difference often causes some purchases overseas to surpass those at home. In an August survey of 1, 200 Chinese shoppers by consulting firm KPMG, 51% of the shoppers said they bought watches in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Macau during the 12-months prior to August 2012, while only 31% said they had bought one within China’s borders during that time.

許多中國人赴海外旅遊就是爲了購物，因爲加上稅後奢侈品在中國的售價會比海外高出30%到50%。這種價格差異經常導致中國人在海外購買某種奢侈品的支出金額比這種奢侈品在中國國內的銷售額還要高。諮詢公司畢馬威(KPMG)去年8月對中國1,200名購物者進行的調查發現，其中51%的人說他們在此前的12個月裏在香港、臺灣或澳門購買過手錶，而只有31%的人說過去12個月裏他們在中國內地購買過手錶。