Chinese travel to the US is seeing its first decline for 15 years as impact from the simmering US – China trade spat begins to bite.
According to the US National Travel and Tourism Office arrivals from China were down 5.7% in 2018 to 2.9 million visitors.
It was the first decline since 2003.
The Trump administration began imposing tariffs on China in early 2018 and trade relations have got progressively worse since then.
Last year China briefly issued an advisory warning its citizens about the levels of urban gun violence in US cities.
Although geopolitical issues are a major factor, it is not the only one. The breakneck speed of growth has been slowing down for the past couple of years.
Economic concerns in China have seen the middle classes opt for destinations closer to home like Taiwan, Thailand and perennial favourite Hong Kong.
The US still expects Chinese tourism to increase by 2% in 2019, to 3.3 million visitors and up to 4.1 million by 2023.
"Even if the Chinese economy cools, it’s still going to continue to be a very good source of growth for the travel industry," said David Huether, SVP of research for the U.S. Travel Association.
Experts say the US tourism industry must do more to keep attracting the China market, particularly with the ongoing trade tensions
"A lot of companies looked at the Chinese market as easy money, but we have to be relevant to the Chinese," said David Becker, former CEO of consultancy group Attract China.
One solution has been to roll out ‘China Ready’ cultural awareness programs and leverage WeChat as a promotional tool.
Washington D.C. became the first US city to launch an interactive guide in the app, and saw the number of Chinese visitors double in five years, despite a recent dip.
"We’re beefing up our efforts because we see there’s so much potential for growth," said Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC.
