At the beginning of 2023, the Australian leaders who began to promote Australian tourism to foreign tourists,
It is also a state of high anticipation for the large number of Chinese tourists who may be coming.
Australia's Minister of Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, said directly
This move has further stabilized China-Australia relations.
But less than half a year later, during the Chinese New Year holiday, Australia did not welcome the expected large number of Chinese tourists.
Some bilingual tour guides with Mandarin skills have had to change their target customers because they haven't received Chinese tourists for a long time.
However, at the same time, a large number of Chinese tourists have squeezed Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries into an explosion.
Australia, once popular with Chinese tourists, seems to be no longer a priority for overseas travel.
The number of Chinese tourists is gradually increasing
But nowhere near the pre-pandemic number
Justin Steele, a former corporate lawyer, took advantage of his Mandarin skills in 2018 to start a tour guide business.
At that time, there were about 120,000 Chinese tourists visiting Australia every month, which was a huge market.
Chinese tourists used to occupy his business
More than 20% of the total amount,
Bilingual service became one of his signatures.
However, with Chinese tourists no longer coming to Australia, Steele has had to turn its focus to American, British and German tourists.
In the period before the Chinese New Year holiday,
Steele didn't even get it
Any bookings from China.
In an interview with Australian media, Steele said:
"China used to be a huge market, but we don't offer bilingual tours anymore. ”
According to Bloomberg estimates, the absence of Chinese tourists has cost the global tourism industry US$129 billion (A$197 billion).
Ctrip, China's largest travel agency, said outbound travel bookings for the holidays had increased more than 10 times compared to the same period last year.
Outbound travel bookings for Chinese New Year 2024 show a preference for shorter-haul routes, especially in Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea.
In the past few years, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have successively granted mutual visa exemptions to China, making it easier for Chinese tourists to travel to Southeast Asian countries.
According to Thai media news, in the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, the number of tourists from China is gradually increasing.
The head of LH in Thailand revealed that the room reservation rate of all the company's hotels has reached 80-90%.
Thailand has ushered in the Chinese New Year tourism boom, and Phuket Airport has even set up decorations to welcome the Chinese New Year to welcome the large number of tourists during the Chinese New Year for them to take photos.
The person in charge of Phuket Airport said,
It is expected that the airport will be daily during the Spring Festival
Nearly 50,000 visitors will be received.
Meanwhile, the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 45,880 Chinese tourists arrived in Australia in November last year.
In 2023, the average monthly number of tourists in Australia and China will be 42,660, which is indeed a lot less than the average daily reception of Phuket Airport in Thailand.
On the other hand, during the 2023 World Cup, many Chinese people said that Australia's travel visas were often rejected and became difficult to apply.
A registered migration agent in Melbourne said in his experience the decision to grant a tourist visa was very subjective.
"We have received many inquiries from Chinese tourists about tourist visa refusals," he said.
I feel the rejection rate
It's about 30 to 50 percent. ”
According to reports, Rene Li, a fan who wanted to go to Australia to watch the World Cup, posted her experience of being denied a visa online, which resonated with many people. It didn't take long for hundreds of people to join his WeChat group, all of whom had similar experiences.
They often have sufficient personal assets and a good track record and are considered "quality applicants", but they are also denied visas.
Moreover, these people who were denied visas shared their own refusal letters, and people were surprised to find that
The members who were denied visas almost received it
"Exactly the same refusal template",
Only a few words were changed, which was very perfunctory.
This situation will naturally greatly discourage Chinese tourists from applying to travel to Australia.
Despite this, Ctrip still included Australia in the list of the top 10 popular travel destinations, but said it did not have specific data to provide.
Travel agents said China only lifted its ban on tour groups to Australia in August and it could take time to regain momentum.
Compared with other tourist destinations, Australia has its own unique advantages and attractions for Chinese tourists.
One of the few Chinese tourists Steele has received this summer is a travel writer who says Australia is for Chinese tourists
The biggest attraction is its natural beauty,
Low-density population, clean environment
and fresh seafood.
她最难忘的是在Shelley Beach浮潜和在Watson's Bay看日落。
But direct flights from Beijing to Sydney are now reduced from two per day in 2019 to one per day, meaning more Chinese tourists will choose to travel to Southeast Asia rather than Australia.
Including Japan and South Korea, these countries will be popular regions for Chinese tourists in 2024.
John O'Sullivan, former director of Tourism Australia, said consumer confidence would be the biggest determinant of whether Chinese tourists could return to Australia on a large scale this year.
The new entry rules are strictly enforced
When visiting Australia, you must pay attention
No matter how unsatisfactory the number of people is compared with the past and expectations, but the Spring Festival is approaching, there are still many Chinese people who choose Australia to play and visit relatives.
Recently, such a Chinese tourist was directly fined 17,000 yuan for negligence when passing through customs.
This is a post posted by a netizen on Xiaohongshu, the blogger posted a fine notice, the amount of the fine was as high as 3,756 Australian dollars, which is equivalent to more than 17,000 yuan in people.
This has not yet entered the country to play, and a large amount of money has gone out.
The reason for the fine was that the blogger's boyfriend's parents and sister's family traveled to Australia independently, and they bought more than 3,000 tickets that needed to transit in Indonesia.
At the time of the transfer, the airline provided breakfast, but the accompanying children did not eat, so the family decided to pack the uneaten portion on the plane, and eat it when they were hungry.
As a result, the breakfast was not eaten on the plane, and there was a meat bun left, which was finally found by Australian Customs, violating Australian biosecurity law, and was directly issued a high fine.
Australia's border checks are very strict, which is of course also related to Australia's unique geographical location and natural environment.
There are also many netizens in the comment area of the post who reminded them that they must remember to declare!
After the declaration, it is more likely that the prohibited items will be confiscated, but the concealment and non-reporting will be found out.
Not only could you face fines,
In severe cases, it may even affect the visa.
Australia's biosecurity law has been upgraded again
In December 2022, the Australian government amended the Biosecurity Act to include a new civil penalty provision for those who carry or import "conditionally non-contraband" without obtaining the required permits.
"Conditionally non-contraband" means "the purpose of concealing an item is to prevent detection, or to prevent biosafety officials from establishing the true nature of the item".
Such items include meat products, live animals and animal propagation material, plants or plant products, seeds, animal material, infectious pathogens, microorganisms, and fungi.
Violation of this provision is punishable by up to:
A fine of $375,600.
At the end of October 2023, the government expanded the grounds for visa cancellation to include "circumstances" where the minister has reason to believe that the visa holder has breached the provision.
This expands the powers of government officials, allowing them to judge on their own merits whether an entry has violated the law.
The Australian Government issues a reminder to international students and those who enter the country on short-term visas to work:
Once the biosecurity law is violated
Visa may be revoked.
Existing grounds for visa cancellation include tourists providing false or misleading statements, or refusing to answer questions from biosafety officers.
Once the visa is cancelled, the traveler faces being deported on the spot, and with this repatriation record, he or she cannot apply for an Australian visa again for 3 years.
An explanatory statement issued by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said the government intends to make "education and counselling" a priority in the event of a first breach.
The visa will only be revoked if it is found that the entrant has repeatedly violated the red line in defiance of the regulations, or if the violation is serious.