California hopes to lure Chinese tourists back, bring numbers up to pre-pandemic levels

SAN FRANCISCO / LOS ANGELES: California, which has long been a popular destination, is looking to bring its Chinese tourist numbers back up to pre-pandemic levels.

Outbound tourism plummeted and has yet to fully recover after China put in place restrictive lockdowns during COVID-19, hitting the United States’ most populous state hard.

Even as Beijing lifted pandemic restrictions, the number of Chinese visitors in Los Angeles last year was just 40 per cent of the approximately 1 million who visited in 2019.

According to predictions from the US National Travel and Tourism Office, the numbers will only return to pre-pandemic levels in 2026.

Experts said that economic uncertainty for Chinese citizens, coupled with a focus in Beijing on domestic travel, are among the factors slowing things down.

"There’s been a heavy push to have travel be far more domestic, with lots of media and pushes from state agencies and those things to encourage domestic tourism rather than international long haul,” said Ryan Yonk, senior research faculty from the American Institute for Economic Research.

China’s middle class may also have less disposable income to spend on travel due to the country’s slowing economy, Professor of Tourism and Services Marketing Sam Huang from Edith Cowan University, told CNA’s East Asia Tonight programme on Friday (Jun 21).

The lack of flights between China and the US is another issue.

In San Francisco, there are currently around 25 per week, just half of pre-pandemic levels.

The low number was a major talking point during the city's mayor London Breed's recent trip to China, which included meetings with Chinese airlines, along with a plan to bring pandas to the San Francisco Zoo.

Breed said the economic opportunities could be “significant”.

“Just to put it into perspective, we are not at pre-pandemic levels for flights coming in from China. But already last year, we saw over US$633 million in economic impact to the city, just from tourists who came from China to our city,” she added.

California's governor Gavin Newsom paid a visit to China last year as well to promote climate cooperation.

MARKETING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

Despite the drop in visitor numbers, Chinese travellers, spent more than US$2 billion in California last year.

Still, businesses that rely on Chinese tourists, like Citadel Outlets, have found it difficult to stay afloat.

The outlet mall, located several minutes from downtown Los Angeles, ramped up efforts to reach Chinese customers directly on social media after the pandemic slowed things down. It has an office in China.

Its director of global sales Cynthia Schmitt Easey told CNA: “That's how we're really able to get to the customer, because we're getting that Chinese customer endorsement, by somebody that they trust. And that's been very, very good for us.”

She added that there has been a noticeable uptick in visitors so far this year, raising hopes of a full recovery.

Prof Huang from Edith Cowan University noted another rising method of tourism promotion: Livestreaming.

“People can travel to a place where they can, in real time, show the place with video recording, and then this can be broadcast on social media like WeChat or Douyin in China,” he added.

“These types of new media can help a destination become really popular in a short time. I think this is something we need to take note of.”