10月22日口譯文章:英國鼎力吸引中國旅客赴英旅行
數據表現,英國為吸引中國旅客所做的盡力,致使本年4月至6月赴英旅行的中國旅客同比增加33%。
英國國度統計局(Office for National Statistics)表現,本年第二季度,6.4萬名中國要地本地人走完簽證申請流程來到英國。
該局表現,只管中國旅客人數有所增加並且國民幣相對於英鎊升值,但中國旅客在英付出降低了6%,至1.51億英鎊。
旅行業高管們多年來將目的瞄準中國旅客,他們均勻每人付出2688英鎊(是大多半旅客的4倍),而且在英國勾留10個晚上——赴英旅客均勻勾留時光是6個晚上。
客歲,英國當局斥資160萬英鎊,提議了一場為一些英國地標征會合文名的運動。比方,Sherwood Forest被定名為“俠盜林”,Cerne Abbas Giant則被稱為“白色大裸奔”。
本年,英國財務大臣喬治·奧斯本(George Osborne)撥出130萬英鎊,啟動一項約請中國旅客在線分享旅遊照片的運動,運動時光從10月26日連續至聖誕節。英國當局願望會有1億中國人存眷運動成果。
各式各樣的運動獲得了必定勝利。曩昔5年裏,中國旅客在英年付出額增加了326%,現在到達4.975億英鎊。
但在中國旅行市場發達成長的配景下,上述數字不算大。本年中國出境遊人次估計跨越1.2億。中國旅客的前五大出境遊目標地都是亞洲國度和地域,法國、意大利、瑞士和德國則躋身前十大目標地之列。
比擬之下,英國國度統計局的數據表現,本年第二季度,赴英旅行的旅客有740萬來自歐洲大陸,有近100萬來自美國,15.2萬來自印度。
天下旅行業理事會(WTTC)總裁戴維·斯科斯爾(David Scowsill)表現:“英國應答中國商務和休閑旅客予以看重。想象一下,假如英國當局更踴躍地簡化中國旅客的簽證流程,將會對英國零售和旅店業和全部經濟發生多大的推進。”
斯科斯爾表現,英國沒有參加歐盟的申根區,這類劣勢可以經由過程供給在線簽證流程、使旅客無需在領事館外排長隊來抵消。英國也能夠簡化簽證流程,在申根簽證申請中包括對英國簽證的申請。
他說:“咱們催促英國當局更周全地斟酌這個題目。在旅行市場排名中,中國人僅將英國排在第34位,使人大跌眼鏡。”
其他題目包含制止中國留門生在英國事情的嚴厲劃定,和缺乏歷久簽證。美國將10年期簽證作為頒給中國旅客的尺度簽證,而英國的是1年期簽證。
【參考譯文】
UK efforts to attract Chinese tourists resulted in a 33 per cent year-on-year rise in arrivals between April and June, according to the latest data.
The Office for National Statistics said 64,000 mainland Chinese had made their way through the visa application process to come to the UK in the second quarter.
In spite of the increase and the renminbi strengthening against the pound, their spending fell by only 6 per cent to 151m pounds, said the ONS.
Tourism chiefs have spent years targeting tourists from China who spend an average of 2,688 pounds each — four times more than most visitors — and stay for 10 nights compared with an average of six.
Last year, the government spent 1.6m pounds on a campaign to give Mandarin names to some UK landmarks. Sherwood Forest, for example, became "Forest of Chivalrous Thieves" and the Cerne Abbas Giant the "Big White Streaker".
This year, George Osborne, the chancellor, launched a 1.3m pounds campaign from October 26 to Christmas that will ask Chinese tourists to share pictures of their visit online. The government hopes that 100m Chinese will see the results.
The various campaigns have had some success. During the past five years, the amount spent each year by Chinese visitors has increased by 326 per cent to now stand at 497.5m pounds.
But the number is low in the context of the boom in China's travel market. More than 120m Chinese are expected to travel abroad this year and while Asian countries are the top five destinations, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany round out the top 10.
By comparison, the UK received 7.4m visitors from continental Europe, nearly 1m from the US and 152,000 from India in the second quarter, according to the ONS.
David Scowsill, president of the World Travel and Tourism Council, the trade body, said: "Chinese business and leisure travellers should be important to the UK. Imagine the boost to the UK retail and hospitality industries and the economy in general if the UK government was more progressive with visa processing for Chinese consumers."
The disadvantage of being outside the EU's Schengen single-visa bloc could be offset by offering an online visa process, sparing visitors long queues at consular offices, said Mr Scowsill. The UK could also allow a simplified process that included a UK visa on a Schengen application.
"We urge the government to think much more radically about this issue. It is extraordinary that the Chinese rank only number 34 among the top markets in terms of visits to the UK," he said.
Other issues include strict rules barring Chinese students in the UK from staying on to work, and the lack of a long-term visas. The US has introduced 10-year visas as standard for Chinese visitors, whereas the UK's default is one year.