New Zealand leads the list of Chinese tourists' favorite destinations, according to a new study by the China Tourism Academy. (Flickr/Trey Ratcliff)
Beijing-based tourism research institution China Tourism Academy (CTA) recently released a new report showing which countries Chinese travelers felt most satisfied with, and which left them leaving disgruntled.
The study surveyed 22 countries that saw a significant number of Chinese tourists, though why these countries were picked was not explained. Satisfaction with the destinations’ environment, service received, and infrastructure were among some of the factors taken into consideration in CTA’s study. CTA set the level of “basic satisfaction” at 75 out of 100, and 21 of the 22 countries surveyed met that requirement. Here’s a list of the study’s top performers:
1. New Zealand – 83.4
2. United States – 83.27
3. Canada – 82.55
4. Australia – 82.22
5. Singapore – 82.01
Other popular destinations Chinese travelers frequented, such as France and Japan, came in 9th and 12th, with scores of 80.47 and 79.08 respectively. Only Vietnam did not make the cut for having met the level of “basic satisfaction,” and came in last at 72.9.
The reason why some of the chart toppers were so successful might have been the result of their campaign efforts paying off. For example, New Zealand’s tourism board invited Chinese celebrity Yao Chen to hold her high-profile wedding there. California’s tourism board made model-actress Gao Yuanyuan their travel ambassador, and Tourism Vancouver teamed up with Chinese-born, Vancouver-based singer Wanting Qu.
According to the report, Chinese tourists felt most satisfied in general with the scenery and public services available, such as transportation in the countries they visited. However, they felt that security, Chinese-language service, and complaint channels were lacking.
CTA’s satisfaction report seems to be describing the travel habits of general outbound travelers. Other lists though, when looking at specific socio-economic demographics, give different results. For example, Chinese travel site Travelzoo’s survey last year found that Japan was the top destination for China’s upper-middle class, and the 2014 Hurun Report listed Australia as the number one place for China’s ultra-rich class.