行万里路: 中国人去年出境游支出升至世界第一

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.

虽然从旅行团成员统一佩戴的旅行帽和配备扩音器的导游来看，中国旅行团缺少了一些时尚气息，但联合国下属机构世界旅游组织(World Tourism Organization)公布的数据显示，中国游客对全球旅游业的贡献最大。

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.

中国人去年花在出境游上的支出膨胀至1,020亿美元（合人民币6,330亿元），同2011年相比增长了40%。联合国世界旅游组织在其网站上发布的一份声明中说，这一增幅令中国迅速超越德国和美国。后两者在之前是出境游支出最高的两个国家。2012年德美两国出境旅游支出均同比增长6%，至大约840亿美元。

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.

世界旅游组织说，一定程度上得益于中国人可支配收入的不断增长以及中国对旅行限制的逐步放松，中国2012年的出境游客量达到8,300万人次，远高于10年前的1,000万人次。

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.

中国旅游市场的增长对诸多行业的企业都会产生巨大影响，从航空公司和酒店运营商，到奢侈品牌和银行，这些行业的所有企业都已经开始转变其经营策略，以吸引中国那些富有的游客。希尔顿(Hilton)等酒店连锁企业和皇家加勒比(Royal Caribbean)等游轮运营企业已经开始推出专门针对中国客人的特色服务，如向他们提供华人设计师谭燕玉(Vivienne Tam)设计的限量版拖鞋, 有的商家还添置了价值50,000美元的专业用铁锅，以便能煮出更好的面条。美国运通(American Express)最近与中国工商银行(Industrial and Commercial Bank of China)合作，推出了专门针对中国市场的电子旅行支票。

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.

甚至像美国南加州的South Coast Plaza购物中心等不太知名的企业也增加了新的支付服务内容以及配备了会说普通话的礼宾员，以便中国游客能用他们本国的信用卡付款并能获得个人造型师以中文提供的建议。

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.

许多中国人赴海外旅游就是为了购物，因为加上税后奢侈品在中国的售价会比海外高出30%到50%。这种价格差异经常导致中国人在海外购买某种奢侈品的支出金额比这种奢侈品在中国国内的销售额还要高。咨询公司毕马威(KPMG)去年8月对中国1,200名购物者进行的调查发现，其中51%的人说他们在此前的12个月里在香港、台湾或澳门购买过手表，而只有31%的人说过去12个月里他们在中国内地购买过手表。