Chinese Tourists, New York

 
 

Vocabulary

tour	run into	incredible
ready	harbor	observatory
bridge	relax (2)	ever present
luxury	busload	all the time
group	sidewalk	Empire State Building
piece	rule (2)	bring/brought/brought
power	purchase	dramatically
goods	empire	oh my gosh
retail	clientele	watch out for
team	key (2)	reach out to
rub	surpass	in order to

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 
 
 
 

Transcript

It’s hard not to run into Chinese tourists on the sidewalks of New York. Large Chinese tour groups are everywhere.

And ready to spend.

From Lady Liberty in New York Harbor to the top of the Empire State Building, the Chinese tourist is ever present.

Tourist One: “We actually see New York City all the time in movies and on TV and we really want to come here.”

Journalist: “How come you don’t have a sign saying, ‘Beijing this way’?”
Jean-Yves Ghazi, Empire State Building Observatory: “Hahaha. Because Beijing is actually here in New York City right now, right here with us.”

First it was Chinese business travelers.

Now, relaxed visa rules and a strong economy back home brings busloads full of vacationers.

George Fertitta, CEO, NYC & CO.: “The Chinese tourist is an incredibly growing market. Over the last year we’ve grown 22%.”

Forty percent of all Chinese visitors to America come to New York City.

Tourist Two: “I love New York.”

Tourist Three: “I mean every single Chinese person has heard about New York, when they heard about America, so we just want to come and see it.
Journalist: “Would you be interested in buying a piece of the Brooklyn Bridge? I can sell you that. That is a New York tradition.”
Tourist Three: “If I can, sure.”

L&L Tours shows them a good time. Tens years ago, tourists brought their own food and didn’t want to buy anything.

Rich Sun, VP, L&L Travel Enterprises: “Their purchasing power has grown dramatically. Now we have customers who are here to buy iPads, iPods…different computers and all the luxury brands.”

Lily Fan, Chinese Tourists: “Oh my gosh. I know my friends spent, I think, $10,000 on shopping.”

Luxury goods stores like Tourneau make sure to have Mandarin-speaking employees to watch out for that growing clientele.

Larry Barkley, VP of Retail, Tourneau: “We send key members of our marketing teams to China in order to reach out to the different groups that are organizing tours to come to the United States.”

One UN study said that the Chinese spend a hundred-and-two billion dollars ($102 billion) last year in their world travels, surpassing the US and Germany.

Tourists Four: “If we rub it nicely, it’s going to make everyone happy.”

Journalist: “Any final thoughts?”
Jean-Yves Ghazi, Empire State Building Observatory: “Welcome to New York City. Ni Hao.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

Questions

1. “Because Beijing is actually here in New York City right now, right here with us.” What does this mean?

2. Chinese tourists in New York are ubiquitous. Why do they want to visit New York City?

3. Are there political and economic reasons for the increase in tourists?

4. Has the nature of Chinese tourism changed over the past decade? How has it changed?

5. Do the tourists like to splurge or are they frugal?

6. Luxury goods stores have adopted new strategies. Is this right or wrong?

7. Are the business men enthusiastic, happy, in the middle, so-so, have mixed feelings, or disappointed by large numbers of tourists?

 
 

A. Do many tourists visit your city, region and country? What are some tourist attractions?

B. Where do the tourists come from? Are there tourists from China?

C. Tourism is an important part of the economy. The tourist industry is important. Yes or no? What industries or businesses benefit from tourism?

D. Would your city and country like to have more, less or the same amount of tourists?

E. What will happen in the future?