Newly introduced measures will restrict people on the blacklist from taking flights, joining travel groups or taking overseas trips, reported China Daily. As per the new rules, information on the blacklist can also be shared by provincial and national tourism authorities with the public, travel agencies and industry organizations.

Additionally, government agencies responsible for public security, customs, inspection and quarantine, border protection, transportation and finance can also be privy to the Chinese tourist blacklist.

“Punishments can be imposed by travel agencies or other related agencies or organizations based on the record,” says a draft of the proposed regulations.

The China National Tourism Administration (NTA) established the blacklist back in April 2015. Offenders’ names were to be recorded for two years by a two-tiered provincial and national system. At the time, the tourist blacklist gave tourism authorities the right to report such violations to public security, customs and transport authorities as well as the central bank’s individual credit department.

By establishing the blacklist, tourism authorities could “propose correction measures in order to mitigate the negative impact” against Chinese tourists who have “humiliated” their country.

In its 15 months of existence, there have been 19 names added to the China tourist blacklist. But even as the tourist blacklist changes from a record of names to enforceable preventative action, some experts are warning that it will remain ineffective. Liu Simin, vice-president of the tourism branch of the China Society for Futures Studies, said the blacklist may not work as effectively in practice as is in theory.

“It is not that difficult to introduce restrictive measures on flights,” Liu said. “However, if tourism authorities want to restrict blacklisted tourists from traveling overseas, they can only do this through travel agencies. If travelers plan their own trips and skip the agencies, they’re out of reach.”

Although a previous China Daily report described the blacklist as an attempt to “to rescue the image of its citizens as holidaymakers”, a recent report downplayed the impact of misbehaving Chinese tourists as “a few ugly incidents”.

Last month, a Chinese tourist was arrested for assaulting a clerk at a duty-free store at Los Angeles airport. In June, a Chinese tourist was fined by officials at Yellowstone National Park for walking on terrace formations and collecting spring water. This past April, Japanese news cameras captured Chinese tourists abusing trees during the annual cherry blossom season.

The post China’s Tourism Blacklist Gets Some Serious Teeth appeared first on The Nanfang.

The robbers remain at large, and a police investigation is ongoing.

Reuters reports that Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tourists are routinely targeted by thieves in France because it is believed they carry large amounts of cash and luxury goods.

In May 2016, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo traveled to Beijing to assure Chinese tourists that Paris was taking all necessary measures to ensure their safety. In January 2016, five youths suspected in 23 robberies targeting Chinese women were arrested in Paris.

In response to an increasing number of crimes committed against Chinese tourists, ten Chinese police officers were deployed to Paris in 2014. However, Chinese tourists have continually been targeted by thieves.

Despite their reputation as world-leaders in the market, the beginning of this year saw a sharp 24 percent decline in the number of luxury goods purchased by Chinese tourists overseas, reported Global Blue.

The post Group of Chinese Tourists Assaulted and Robbed in Paris appeared first on The Nanfang.

According to Caissa Touristic, the exclusive travel provider for the Rio Olympics in China, thousands of travel packages have been purchased in China already. As well, travel by Chinese to neighboring countries like Argentina and Chile have increased around the Olympic Games.

During the 2014 World Cup, some 5,000 Chinese tourists traveled to Brazil. That year, Brazil received 100,000 visitors from China.

Despite their growing numbers, Chinese do not currently have visa-free entry to Brazil. Unlike the citizens of the USA, Canada, Australia, and Japan, citizens from China are urged to apply for visas early in advance. On top of that, Brazil is a difficult destination for Chinese travelers due to long flights that tend to be on the expensive side.  Air travel between China and Brazil may take up to 30 hours and travel packages may cost between RMB 400,000 ($63,000) and 500,000.

Recent news about the Rio Olympics have focused upon threats and dangers to visitors. Problems have included health risks like the Zika virus, rampant crime, and unpaid police and doctors as part of a broken welfare system. Things are so bad that even Brazillian soccer great Rivaldo warned tourists to stay away from his country out of concern for their own safety. “Things are getting uglier here every day,” Rivaldo wrote. “I advise everyone with plans to visit Brazil for the Olympics in Rio — to stay home. You’ll be putting your life at risk here.”

However, Chinese tourist simply will not be deterred from reaching their destinations. Liu Xing, 28, last visited Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and thinks the country has gotten a bad rap from the news. “I think some of the reports are totally rumors,” he told the Global Times. “The major cities are very clean, and the sanitation services are good, only tourists going to the Amazon area should get inoculated against yellow fever.”

From his previous experience, Liu said there will be a considerable police presence that will keep tourists like him safe. “I have a hunch that this trip will be the most memorable one in my whole life,” he said.

The post Get Ready Rio, Massive Numbers of Chinese Are On Their Way for the Olympics appeared first on The Nanfang.

With 115,000 Chinese visiting in 2015, the country now ranks as the 6th highest source of tourists in Egypt. The Egyptian Tourism Authority hopes to raise that number to 200,000 this year by offering wealthy tourists cruise trips on the Nile, leisure events along the Red Sea, self-drive tours in the desert, and golf tours. In anticipation of the increased numbers, weekly flights between Cairo, Egypt and Guangzhou and Beijing will be increased this year.

Meanwhile, Israel has seen a 40 percent year-on-year increase of Chinese tourists. Israel anticipates 68,000 Chinese will travel to the country this year, and 100,000 annually by 2017. Both China and Israel have agreed to allow citizens from each country to be issued ten-year multiple-entry visas. This would be Israel’s first such visa of this length.

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Chinese tourists spent $215 billion on outbound travel in 2015, an increase of 53 percent over the previous year.

A survey conducted by Hotel.com of 3,000 Chinese tourists found that Australia ranked as the most popular destination last year, followed by Japan, France, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

The post Egypt and Israel Vie For Chinese Tourist Dollars appeared first on The Nanfang.

The backpacker said he had just arrived from Kunming by train, and is planning to go to Hong Kong. He claims to only have RMB 40 on his person, and is relying on the generosity of others to cover his train tickets and accommodation.

The backpacker follows in the steps of 25 year-old Victor from Poland who was seen begging at Guangzhou East Railway Station last November. Victor said he ran out of money while backpacking, and relied on the kindness of strangers, while police and workers at the station claim Victor is a professional panhandler who can make as much as RMB 1000 a day.

Much like the Russian backpacker, Victor said he intended to use the money earned from begging to travel to Kunming, and then continue onwards to Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.

The post Another Foreign Backpacker Begging on the Streets of Guangzhou appeared first on The Nanfang.

Li Wei has retained British law firm Chan Neill Solicitors, who is in contact with the airline regarding whether or not Virgin Atlantic was negligent and legally liable.

The People’s Daily Online reports that a formal apology has not yet been issued to Li.

Virgin CEO Richard Branson had commented on the incident in a Twitter post: “Really sorry to hear about an alleged incident on flight VS250. We do not tolerate abuse and @virginatlantic are investigating.”

Li has since released a statement describing her experience on the flight as one “where I was humiliated, abused, and had to sit through the entire flight in fear.”

Li places the blame squarely on Virgin Atlantic: “Regardless of the fellow passenger’s state of health, I expected much more from Virgin Atlantic in dealing with such incidents, especially before the plane had taken off.”

Li also thanks her supporters: “I have always been proud to be Chinese and glad to see that many people are shocked that something of this nature could happen.”

The racist incident on Virgin Atlantic flight VS250 from London to Shanghai led to the ire of millions of Chinese netizens, with Li’s Weibo post being read by five million times. In addition to being called a “Chinese Pig”, Li claims a flight attendant refused to help her after being alerted to the situation, and instead threatened to kick her off the plane.

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Xinhua published photos showing Chinese tourists posing in in the square that is mostly free of people, insisting “The number of tourists in Lhasa began to mount as the temperature rised [sic].” The Xinhua report did not provide any specific details.

Other media announcements have been made at an awkward time.

During the recent “two sessions”, deputy director of the Tibet tourism development commission Hong Wei said government regulations will be reformed in order to make travel to the region more accessible. “Tibet will be more open to domestic and foreign tourists in the next five years,” said Hong.

Hong’s remarks come at a time when non-Chinese tourists and visitors have been banned from traveling to Tibet. As has been the annual tradition since 2008 when anti-Beijing riots in Lhasa broke out, China forbids Tibet travel access to any foreign visitors during the month of March. This is a politically-sensitive period in Tibet that culminates in Tibet Uprising Day, which takes place on March 10, a day that marks Tibetan opposition to Beijing rule.

Any foreign traveler wishing to enter Tibet must first procure a Tibet travel permit, a special document not needed for other regions in China. As China Daily reports, this extra requirement is based on Tibet’s unique ethnic traditions, cultural heritage, reception capacity and ecological protection needs.

But even as foreign tourists are currently not allowed in, tourism in Tibet is flourishing from the huge numbers of Chinese tourists that flock there.

Mei Zhang, the founder of travel agency Wild China, says Tibet has become a “holy grail” to Chinese tourists. “It’s the spirituality, the exotic culture and also the stunning landscape,” explained Mei.

And the numbers of tourists are equally stunning. According to the Tibet Autonomous Region Tourism Development Committee, some 17.5 million tourists visited Tibet in the first nine months of 2015, an increase of 36 percent over the same period last year. Specifics detailing the difference between foreign and domestic tourists were not included in the report.

Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University, said that a distinct difference between Chinese and foreign tourists is where their money ends up.

Local Tibetans tend to benefit more from foreign tourists “since they want to be guided by Tibetans, want their money to go to Tibetans, and tend to prefer low-impact, sustainable forms of tourism,” said Barnett, while “Chinese businesses appear to benefit most from mass tourism, which mainly involves Chinese tourists.”

But while Chinese tourism continues to rise in domestic and outbound trips, foreign tourists from abroad are becoming less inclined to come to China. Last year’s 8.2 million foreign tourists marked a decline of 680,000, or about 8 percent, from the year prior.

All the same, even without foreign tourists, China is banking heavily on tourism to develop Tibet. Local Tibet authorities have predicted tourist revenue will double in the next five years, accounting for over 40 percent of local economic output.

Already, Lhasa’s tourism revenue has more than tripled in the past five years to an estimated 15.49 billion yuan ($2.35 billion) in 2015. The local authorities say the revenue will double by 2020, bringing some 150,000 jobs in the city.

Development in Tibet has already resulted in Lhasa’s first-ever KFC, the construction of a second railway line to be completed by 2030, and plans for a ski resort.

The post China Uses Photo of Empty Square to Show Tibet’s Popularity With Tourists appeared first on The Nanfang.

In an article posted to Weibo, Liu Wei alleges she was verbally berated by a fellow passenger and then a member of the flight crew: “A 55-something white man suddenly rose from his seat and walked towards me. Gnashing his teeth in anger and pointing at my nose, he said, ‘You f*cking Chinese pig!!! Get the f*ck out of here!'” Liu wrote on her post, as translated by the People’s Daily Online.

While the man continued to attack Liu with profanity and other discriminatory words, a couple came to her aid: “A British man and his Chinese wife decided they could not have it anymore and stepped up to stop him, but they were threatened by the man,” Liu said.

When a member of the flight crew finally arrived, things only got worse for Liu. “The flight attendant walked towards me and loudly scolded me, asking me to stop quarreling with the man or I would be asked to leave the plane immediately,” she wrote.

The attendant then left, but returned after other passengers were said to have come to her defense. That’s when the flight crew member apparently told Liu, “I will change the man’s seat to another because he is mentally ill. This would be good for all.”

However, Liu said the seat change never happened, and she was forced to stay awake for the entire 11 hour flight. “When all the other passengers went to sleep, I sat there. “Terror, anger, humiliation, and powerlessness and frustration of being a Chinese seized my heart. I could not breathe.”Terror, anger, humiliation, and powerlessness and frustration of being a Chinese seized my heart. I could not breathe,” Liu wrote.

Liu said a Chinese flight crew member explained to her that the situation couldn’t be helped. Liu was told by the Chinese flight attendant, “The attendant who scolded you was our superior. He had told us to get you out of the plane if the dispute continues.”

Virgin Atlantic has promised to investigate the incident. Even Virgin CEO Richard Branson commented on the incident in a Twitter post: “Really sorry to hear about an alleged incident on flight VS250. We do not tolerate abuse and @virginatlantic are investigating.”

China Daily reports that Liu’s Weibo post has caused “national rage” and has been viewed by five million readers.

The post “Chinese Pig” Insult on Virgin Atlantic Draws National Outrage appeared first on The Nanfang.

According to an infographic published in the China Daily, outbound tourism really started to takeoff in 2010. Since then, the country has seen an average annual increase between 13 and 15 million tourists.

The numbers however are somewhat misleading. For example, in 2014, 60 percent of the 107 million Chinese tourists that went “overseas” actually went to China’s special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and the self-governed island of Taiwan.

One thing that is abundantly clear, however, is that when Chinese travel, they’re not shy about spending money. According to the infographic, 54 percent of Chinese tourists are willing to spend up to 20 percent of their annual salary on travel; 15 percent claim they are happy to spend over 30 percent.

This is welcome news to popular tourist destinations such as South Korea and Australia. The 6.1 million Chinese tourists that traveled to South Korea last year contributed $22 billion to the local economy, accounting for 2.6 percent of the country’s GDP. Meanwhile, the one million Chinese tourists that went to Australia spent $5.4 billion.

Here’s the entire infographic for you to peruse:

The post Chinese People Love to Travel and Throw Money Around appeared first on The Nanfang.

An announcement at this week’s National People’s Congress (NPC) that said Tibet looks to become one of the world’s top tourism destinations comes at the same time a travel ban has been implemented for the region, forbidding any visitors from entering.

Hong Wei, deputy director of the Tibet tourism development commission and NPC delegate, said government regulations will be reformed in order to make travel to the region more accessible.

“Tibet will be more open to domestic and foreign tourists in the next five years. We will simplify the procedure for foreigners to obtain travel permits and cut the waiting time,” said Hong.

As the China Daily reports, the reduced waiting time for Tibet travel permits will attract more tourists that may change Tibet into one of the world’s top tourist destinations over the next five years.

However, a “reduced waiting time” is the least of anyone’s troubles as any tourists or visitors wanting to travel to Tibet right now are out of luck. A travel ban has been implemented in Tibet from February 25 to March 30, forcing all non-locals from outside China to leave. This marks a politically-sensitive period in Tibet that culminates in Tibet Uprising Day, which takes place on March 10, a day that marks Tibetan opposition to Beijing rule.

Any foreign traveler wishing to enter Tibet must first procure a Tibet travel permit. As China Daily reports, this extra requirement is based on Tibet’s unique ethnic traditions, cultural heritage, reception capacity and ecological protection needs.

Padma Choling, head of the standing committee of the regional people’s congress, said Tibet has no plans to completely abolish permits for foreign travelers because its natural environment is complicated and the purpose of the permits is mainly to ensure the safety of the travelers.

Travel to Tibet is tightly controlled by local authorities, especially when concerning journalists. The 50th anniversary last September of what China calls the Tibet Autonomous Region was celebrated in grand style by the CCP, but not one foreign journalist was invited.

Besides tourism, China is also banking on the development of Tibet through the construction of a second railway line, the Sichuan-Tibet railway. Chairman of Tibet Losang Jamcan said the railway, 1,629 kilometers long and scheduled to be finished by 2030, will significantly improve people’s livelihoods along its route.

The post China Announces “Tibet to Be More Accessible” During Middle of Tibet Travel Ban appeared first on The Nanfang.