The lack of tourists is another major problem for China’s economy

Tourists in the ancient city of Qingzhou in Shandong Province. Getty Images

• China’s economic growth was disappointing given a weak real estate market and high youth unemployment.
• Only 52,000 tourists on trips organized by travel agencies visited China in the first quarter, according to WSJ.
• A flagging tourism sector will not help China’s economy weather the downturn.

The second largest economy in the world is booming. China has faced a number of headwinds this year, including a weak housing market, soaring youth unemployment and widespread deflationary fears.

Growth in the second quarter was 6.3%, falling short of analysts’ forecasts.

China also has another problem. Despite reopening to the world after the pandemic earlier this year, foreign visitors don’t appear to be returning just yet.

The Wall Street Journal reported that in the first quarter of the year, the most recent period for which figures are available, only 52,000 people traveled on tour-organized visits. That’s 98% less than the same period in 2019.

The World Tourism Alliance, a Chinese tourism research institute, said in a report that the country’s tourism sector is in a state of “distress and depression” following China’s slow reopening from the pandemic.

For nearly three years, the country was all but closed to business travelers, tourists and even residents’ families under the strict “zero Covid” policy, which was only abandoned in March.

Deteriorating relations with the West could possibly be a factor, the Journal says.

In late June, the State Department warned Americans to “reconsider travel to mainland China because of arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including those related to travel bans, and the risk of unlawful detention.”

“The number of visitors from Europe, America, Japan and Korea is declining significantly,” Xiao Qianhui, director of the China Tourism Association, said in May.

According to Bloomberg, China is far less dependent on tourism than other developed nations in the region, such as Thailand and Vietnam, and has seen a 90% increase in tourism outflows to other countries.

But the lack of international interest in visiting China will not give the economy any impetus.

Despite pressure to spur a recovery in manufacturing and services to boost export volumes, Beijing has so far failed to intervene.

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