I recently retired as UK senior partner of BDO after 23 years as a partner with the firm. Last year, I took upA position as visiting professor at Xiamen University, China. My wife is Chinese and I?decided to’spend three months exploring business opportunities in the region and trying to learn some Mandarin.
I’m blogging about my experiences in China for Real Business catch up on my journey so far (see “related articles” on the right-hand side).
Blog 53
Tourism to China has grown rapidly in the 22 years since the violence in Tian’anmen Square.
And there is an even faster growth in Chinese outbound tourism: it is predicted that by next year, there will be more Chinese tourists holidaying abroad than any other nation.
It has become much easier for Chinese to obtain permission to travel and they are very visible tourists in other parts of AsiaPac as well as further afield. The younger generation are keen skiers and eco-tourists; many of them are being educated in the West.
Tourists often bring back more than mere souvenirs; travel broadens the mind and it is clear from talking to Chinese travellers that attitudes change as people travel.
