With an increasing number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad, countries from across Asia are competing for mainland travelers, and all the money they spend. Wu Yina visited an international travel fair in Shanghai over the weekend to find out how they plan to attract Chinese customers.

 

Sri Lanka has expanded its stand at the World Travel Fair this year in the hope of attracting more Chinese customers. As a growing number of Chinese can afford to travel abroad, and have been to many popular destinations, some are trying to find unique countries to visit.

 

"I want to find some exotic places to visit, for individual tours. Besides traditional destinations like Japan, and South Korea, I think Sri Lanka and Cambodia are very good choices," Chen Gang said.

 

China is now Sri Lanka's second largest source of tourists, with more than 100,000 Chinese visiting the country last year. That's a 50 percent increase from 2013. More tourism visitors also mean more tourism revenue to assist the country's development.

 

"In terms of the national gross domestic production, the tourism industry is coming for the second. And also in the foreign earning, the tourism industry's the second. Tourism is a vast area, where if one person get some benefit, it goes to another six person," Chinthaka Liyanaarchchi with Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau said.

 

Thailand is a traditional favorite for Chinese travelers, but isn't worried about the increasing competition.

 

"We have more than 70% of the repeating customer from China. That means, the Chinese love Thailand, and they keep coming back. So I have no worry about the competition. The Thai government is considering to have a free visa for the Chinese, but probably not free. But for example, it could be like a one year or two year visa that Chinese can go back to Thailand," Chuwit Sirivajjakul with Tourism Authority Of Thailand said.

 

Five million Chinese people went to Thailand last year, and the country is hoping to attract 6 million this year. Overall, tourism experts estimate more than 120 million Chinese will travel abroad this year, a 20 percent increase from last year.