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RUNNING HEAD: H&T Management

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Introduction

Tourism is an ever-thriving industry because people always want to visit new places, experience cultures of other communities, and find a free space to breathe indifferently to everyday-life’s worries. Chinese tourists make the largest tourism market today, influencing the tourism industry to be reshaped as per their needs and demands. Travellers tend to unplug during their trips and enjoy the leisure time. Staycations are emerging as a new trend in tourists.

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Increasing Strength of the Chinese Tourism Market

China's travel market is creating a strong impact on the economy by growing as the biggest tourism segment of the world. This market is growing in both dimensions: inbound and outbound. However, the outbound Chinese tourism has become a significant global issue influencing tourism. Chinese tourists have shifted from their traditional staycations to international tours, exploring the far-off lands. This new trend has been strengthened due to the increased flexibility in visa requirements internationally, increased incomes of people, and increased interest of the Chinese people in experiencing the world destinations that have been sources of attractions for tourists worldwide since centuries of human history.

Chinese tourists take almost one hundred and sixty million trips on average to the international destinations every year. A notable trend in the Chinese tourists is that more than seventy per cent of the tourists prefer to travel with their families or friends. Another notable thing in the Chinese tourism market is that the Chinese tourists spend the highest money per trip as compared to other tourists in the world (Carrillo, 2017). It is expected by 2020 that the Chinese tourism market spending in the outbound dimension would grow up to 315 billion dollars per year, showing that the industry grows by 5.4 per cent annually.

The trend of Chinese tourists predict that the US, Europe, and Australia will be the most sought out destinations by Chinese tourists soon. The highest number of tourists take trips to Europe and South East Asia in present time, though the language barrier is more prevalent in these destinations than the neighbouring traditional Chinese tourists' destinations, Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan (Dai et al., 2017). Chinese people prefer to experience new local cuisines during their international trips. A great number of these tourists plan their trips to certain destinations merely to try the distinguished and popular cuisines, e.g., Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. Moreover, the hotels in tourists’ destination points are increasing in number, and transforming to offer enhanced experiences of lodging, cuisine, and local guidance.

Travellers’ Trend to Unplug

Unplugging in reference to the tourists implies to get disconnected from the official contacts by stopping the use of mobile devices to feel free in the arms of carelessness. This is an age of communication and people are connected extensively to each other in countless contexts. Therefore, many a time, they seek rid of this ultra-connectivity by ditching their phones and escaping the grid of today’s busy life (Paris et al., 2015).

Keeping in view the needs of workaholic, exhausted clients, the travel agencies have started offering certain trips that require leaving cell phones at home, and the travel companies make necessary arrangements that make the tourists care-free in this regard. The tourism websites are attracting clients by highlighting terms like ‘unplugged travelling’, ‘off-the-ground trips’, and ‘slow tourism’. These travel agencies provide the clients with dumb phones that are void of data capabilities and can be used only for emergency purposes ("Why more travellers want to unplug on vacation | MNN - Mother Nature Network," n.d.). The trend is getting altered to the degree that some resorts have even begun offering tech detox programs to their guests by logging off their devices for a specific period, e.g., ‘four seasons costa rica”. Instead, they indulge their guests in activities like boating and dancing. Other agencies take their clients to destinations like Antarctica, Mongolia, and Patagonia. Cell phones are primarily disallowed to be carried to these destinations, transforming these tours into digitally detoxed tours. Jacanda Travel is a company that arranges tours to farthest destinations where cell phones do not work at all due to unavailability of the network. Further, certain tourists’ spots do not have Wi-Fi or the cell phone service, e.g., Ranch Malibu, even though it is not a far-off destination. Slow travellers are experiential as they stay for a rather long time at a destination to explore and experience it thoroughly.

Staycations or Traveling Closer to Home

Staycations refer to the holidays that people spend in their hometown, relaxing at home, and involving in leisure activities near their homes at a driving distance. They visit certain places for entertainment and pleasure using their own vehicles or public transport facilities. Staycations usually comprise one-day holidays. People go to a particular destination during some period of their holiday and return home, mostly avoiding staying outside at night. The word ‘staycation’ has been derived from ‘stay’ and ‘vacation’. It is often attributed to the Great Recession. It is usually considered to be more entertaining, refreshing, and relaxing than long vacations. They prove to be genuine breaks from work routine and stressful life responsibilities (de Bloom et al., 2017). Where vacations take much time in preparation and travelling, staycations provide people with value time-spending with their families and friends.

Staycation activities that people can pursue to experience an enhanced level of relaxation, leisure, and comfort include: preparing nutritious, favourite foods; spend value time with the loved ones or close friends by engaging in deeper conversations; giving a little time to cleaning and arranging home; engaging in personal hobbies; reading books or other media; exposing oneself to nature; connecting with the environment; bathing; meditating; renovating or redesigning the living place to make it more desirable (Carrillo, 2017).

Staycations are changing the face of global tourism. Consequently, the destination marketing organizations have expedited their efforts to promote local communities to be attractive destinations of travel, stay, and work. These organizations direct their activities to enhance the public image of these communities, as a response to the growing trend of staycations and to attract nearby visitors. The variables contributing to staycations include availability of time, economic condition, travel facilities, destination image, community trend and others.

Conclusion

People's preferences have continued to reshape tourism industry. Chinese tourists prefer travelling farthest lands, spending money more than other tourists on their trips. People tend to stay off the grid in their trips leaving all stress behind them. Staycations provide sufficient refreshment to individuals who find it difficult to plan long vacations.

Bibliography

Carrillo, L., 2017. 9 Steps To A Mental Wellness Staycation… [WWW Document]. Medium. URL https://medium.com/thrive-global/9-steps-to-a-mental-wellness-staycation-6bdf5aca54d0 (accessed 11.22.19).

Dai, B., Jiang, Y., Yang, L., Ma, Y., 2017. China’s outbound tourism–Stages, policies and choices. Tourism Management 58, 253–258.

de Bloom, J., Nawijn, J., Geurts, S., Kinnunen, U., Korpela, K., 2017. Holiday travel, staycations, and subjective well-being. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 25, 573–588.

How the Growth of China’s Travel Market Is Impacting the Future of Travel [WWW Document], 2019. . WEX Inc. URL https://www.wexinc.com/insights/blog/wex-travel/consumer/china-shaping-future-of-travel/ (accessed 11.22.19).

Paris, C.M., Berger, E.A., Rubin, S., Casson, M., 2015. Disconnected and unplugged: Experiences of technology-induced anxieties and tensions while travelling, in: Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015. Springer, pp. 803–816.

Why more travellers want to unplug on vacation | MNN - Mother Nature Network [WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/why-more-travelers-want-unplug-vacation (accessed 11.22.19).