海外度假越来越受到国人青睐

　　With growing wealth and a big population, the country is becoming the world's most important market for outbound travel.

　　26-year-old Xie Jiting, who hails from Xi'an, the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, moved her vacation in Thailand to November, two months ahead of her original plan.

　　Xie said she wanted to beat the crowds that might rush to Thailand if a bilateral visa-exemption policy was introduced.

　　"I don't like the crowds at tourist sites," Xie said, even though she acknowledged that visa-free visits are convenient for solo travelers.

　　Xie has taken one or two overseas vacations each year since she started to work in 2007.

　　It's Chinese citizens like Xie who are supporting the breakneck rise of the nation's outbound tourism.

　　In the first three quarters of 2013, the number of outbound trips rose 18 percent to 72.55 million, according to the China Tourism Academy, a research institution under the China National Tourism Administration.

　　The CTA forecast the full-year number of outbound trips at 98 million.

　　"The number will be very close to 100 million this year, and it can be expected to break the 100-million mark in 2014," said Jiang Yiyi, director of the CTA's international tourism development division.

　　Chinese outbound tourism has grown by an annual average of 20 percent in recent years, driven by the nation's economic development, Jiang said.

　　"Nothing will stop the fast growth of outbound tourism, as long as the economy keeps growing," she said.

　　China remains the most important emerging economy for the global travel and tourism industry, according to the World Travel Market Industry Report for 2013, which was released on Monday.

　　"China is still dominating the headlines, and its economic success continues to be reflected by the level of interest from the global travel industry," said Simon Press, Reed Travel Exhibitions' director of World Travel Market. Reed Travel is a division of Reed Elsevier Plc.

　　Summer heats up

　　Chinese travel agencies have been having busy summers. And Dai Bin, head of the CTA, said that overseas spending by Chinese tourists was 10 times higher than domestic tourists' spending last year.

　　The third quarter is a traditional peak season for tourism, and the number of travelers has doubled at that time during the past several years, said Zhang Lei, general manager of Utour International Travel Service Co Ltd.

　　Chinese families are becoming used to taking vacations abroad, and parents usually use their annual leave in the summer to travel with their children, he said.

　　Travel agencies also promote family-oriented tours during the season.

　　Themed vacations, such as those featuring visits to famous universities, museums and amusement parks, accounted for about 70 percent of Utour's products in the third quarter, Zhang said.

　　The travel agency is very optimistic about its business for 2013. "This year's outbound tourism will have faster growth than last year for sure, although the exact number isn't clear yet," Zhang said.

　　The nation's outbound tourism market is becoming more diversified, offering something for almost any age or income, he said.

　　More travelers

　　Encouraging developments on the visa front might mean even more overseas trips. Zhang noted that getting a visa is a key hurdle for many Chinese outbound travelers.

　　Mauritius, the island country in Africa, began offering a visa exemption for Chinese travelers at end-October. China and Thailand are also talking about bilateral visa exemptions for tourists.

　　The United Kingdom announced an easier visa application process for Chinese travelers this month.

　　"Many Chinese travelers will be encouraged by the easier visa application to the UK," said Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of Visit Britain, the UK's national tourism agency.

　　Chinese travel agencies and airlines have already started to prepare for the new business that will be generated by these moves.

　　Ctrip, the largest online travel agency in China, will add new offerings for Thailand when the visa-free policy takes effect, said Pu Yue, production manager of Ctrip's tourism department.

　　It's already relatively easy to get a Thai tourist visa, Pu noted. But even if there's no explosion in visitor numbers, "more independent travelers will visit the country, if they do not need to apply for a visa," she said.

　　She estimated that more than 20,000 Chinese travelers will visit Thailand through Ctrip this year, as Thailand is Chinese travelers' first choice in Southeast Asia.

　　Domestic and foreign airlines are expanding their routes to handle the increase in tourism.

　　During the coming winter-spring season, 23 new international routes will be added in China. Some of the new services will be medium- and long-haul routes, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said.

　　"According to our experience, the visa-free policy will definitely push up the passenger flows," said Ding Yue, a spokesman of Air China Ltd.

　　Changes in visa policies won't affect the carrier's flight schedules in the short term, as adding new routes is a very complicated process. But Air China will launch a non-stop route between Beijing and Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Thursday, offering three flights weekly.

　　The new route is a result of "huge demand" by international travelers, Ding said.

　　Thai Airways International Public Co Ltd added the Chinese cities of Chongqing, and Changsha, Hunan province, to its network on Oct 27, taking its destinations in China to eight.

　　随着财富的增长，拥有巨大人口的中国正日益成为世界上最重要的出境旅游市场。

　　谢吉婷(音)，26岁，来自中国西北的一个城市——陕西西安，将自己的泰国假期移到了11月份，比原定计划提前了两个月。

　　谢说，她想要避开因实施双边免签而有可能涌入泰国的巨大人群。

　　“我不喜欢旅游景点有太多人，”谢说，即使她知道免签证旅游对独行客来说非常方便。

　　自2007年参加工作以来谢吉婷每年都会去海外旅游一两次。

　　正是像谢吉婷这样的中国公民促进了中国境外旅游市场的飞速发展。

　　根据中国国家旅游局下属研究机构中国旅游研究院报告，2013年前三个季度，中国的境外出行率上升了18个百分点，达到了7255万人次。

　　中国旅游研究院预测全年的境外旅游人次将达到9800万人次。

　　“今年的出境人数接近1亿人次，2014年有望超过1亿人次大关，”中国旅游研究院国际所所长蒋依依说。

　　受国家经济发展的推动，最近几年，中国的境外旅游以年均20%的增长率飞速发展。

　　“只要经济持续增长，任何事物都无法阻挡境外旅游的飞速发展。”

　　根据周一发布的《2013世界工业旅游市场报告》，中国仍然是发展国际旅游业的最重要的新型经济体。

　　“中国仍然占据主要位置，国民对出境旅游的兴趣不断加深，也反映了中国经济的成功，”励展旅游展览集团国际旅游市场部总监西蒙·普瑞斯说道。励展旅游是励德艾斯维尔集团的分公司。

　　不断升温的夏季旅游市场

　　中国的旅游机构度过了一个繁忙的夏天。中国旅游研究院院长戴斌说，去年中国游客在海外的花费是在国内花费的十倍。

　　“第三季度是传统的旅游旺季，过去的几年，同时段的游客数量已经翻了一倍，”众信国际旅行社股份有限公司总经理张磊说。

　　张磊还告诉我们，中国家庭已经逐渐习惯去国外度假，父母通常在暑期休年假，以便和孩子一同出游。

　　在旺季，旅行社也会推出以“家庭”为主题的旅游。

　　主题度假，例如著名大学游、博物馆和主题公园游占到了众信旅游公司第三季度旅游产品的70%。

　　公司对2013年度的行业前景非常乐观：“尽管目前还不清楚具体的数据是多少，但可以确信，今年的出境旅游增长率比去年还要高”。

　　中国的出境旅游市场变得越来越多元化，各收入阶层和年龄阶层都能找到适合自己的产品。

　　更多的旅游者

　　鼓励免签意味着更多的出境旅游。张磊注意到，对于国内许多的出境游客而言，取得签证是最大的障碍。

　　非洲岛国毛里求斯从十月末开始向中国游客提供免签服务。中国和泰国也在就双方游客免签进行谈判。

　　英国本月也宣布简化中国游客的签证申请过程。

　　英国国家旅游局局长克里斯多夫·罗德里格斯说：“更简便的签证申请流程将会促使更多的中国游客来英旅游。”

　　英国旅游局的举动，促使中国的旅行社和航空公司开始为即将到来的新生意作准备。

　　携程旅行网，中国最大的网上旅行社，将在免签政策生效之际提供有关去泰国的旅游服务，携程网旅游部产品经理蒲月(音译)这样告诉记者。

　　她补充说道：“即使旅游人数没有爆炸性增长，获取泰国的旅游签证也是相对比较容易的。如果不需要办签证，到泰国旅游的独行客会更多。”

　　蒲月估计，今年通过携程旅行网预定泰国旅游的游客数量将达到2万人次，泰国是中国游客东南亚之旅的首选目的地。

　　国内和国外的航空公司也正在开发新的航线，以满足不断扩大的旅游需求。

　　据中国民航总局消息，今年冬春两季，中国将会增加23条新的国际航线，其中一些是中途或长途航线。

　　中国国际航空公司发言人丁跃(音)说：“根据我们的经验，免签政策肯定会促进顾客流量的增加。”

　　短期之内，签证政策的变动不会影响航空公司的运载安排，因为增加新的航线是一个非常复杂的过程，但中国国际航空公司周二起将会增加一条北京至清迈的航线，一周三次直飞。

　　丁说，对出境游的巨大需求催生了这条新的航线。

　　10月27日，泰国航空增加了飞往重庆、湖南长沙的航班，这样一来，泰国直飞中国城市的数达到了8个。