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China Market Information

2010 marks the first time the World Youth and Student Travel Conference takes place in China. Although the conference’s forerunner, the FIYTO Annual Conference was held there in 1988, the upcoming WYSTC will celebrate the first time such a large and globally diverse selection of youth, student and educational travel industry leaders meet in Beijing.

China is a dynamic market, full of exciting opportunities for organisations planning to attend next year’s event. The region is a firmly established global leading market for both sender and receivers of language travel, study abroad, cultural exchange and learning, with sectors like work experience and internships growing rapidly.


Elizabeth O’Neill, Chair of the WYSE Work Abroad Association says, “China is becoming a large sending market for work exchange programmes as well as developing its own inbound internship and teacher programmes.”


China’s in and outbound youth, student and educational travel industry is forecasted to continue its robust growth. This can be reflected in the growing number of institutions and organisations from China that participate at WYSTC each year. The 2009 conference in fact, saw the largest contingent of organisations from China ever. 


Countries sending the largest number of international students to China*
South Korea
Japan
United States (up 25.3% from 06 to 07**)
Vietnam
Indonesia
UK
Germany
Russia

*China Ministry of Education 2003
** Open Doors 2008 (IIE)

Key numbers in relation to China and youth & student travellers

As a sender
#1 target country for international student recruitment for Australia*
#1 target country for international student recruitment for Russia*
#1 target country for international student recruitment for Finland*
#2 target country for international student recruitment for all countries combined*
#2 target country for international student recruitment for Germany*
#2 largest sender of international students to USA (up 14.6% YOY 2008/9)+
300% growth in number of Chinese students enrolling in UK institutions since 2005**
# 1 number of international PhD recipients in Germany***

As a Receiver
5th leading destination for US students in 2007/8 (up 19% YOY, only Asian destination in top 10)+
1 of 8 countries predicted to host 72% of the world’s international students in the near future****

*IIE Study Abroad White Paper Series
**Study Group

*** Dr. Hans de Wit, International Higher Education Consultant
****2009 Higher Education on the Move: New Developments in Social mobility
+IIE Open Doors 2009

China National Tourist Office: cnto.org/

 

The 2009 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report on China
World Economic Forum

 

China, ranked 10th regionally, has seen the largest rank improvement of all countries this year, moving up by a remarkable 15 places to 47th overall.

 

China has been building on a number of clear strengths: it is ranked 7th for its natural resources, with many World Heritage natural sites and fauna that is among the richest in the world. It is ranked 15th for its cultural resources, with many World Heritage cultural sites, many international fairs and exhibitions held in the country, and creative industries that are unsurpassed.

 

Moreover, the country is ranked 20th in price competitiveness and 28th for the overall prioritization of the sector. In addition, China has a relatively good air transport infrastructure (ranked 34th). However, there are some weaknesses pulling the country’s ranking down.

 

China has a policy environment that is not conducive for T&T development (ranked 87th), with strong foreign ownership restrictions and visa requirements for most visitors. Furthermore, policies related to environmental sustainability get low marks (105th).There are also some safety and security concerns (116th), as well as issues related to health and hygiene (91st), with access to improved sanitation and drinking water that is low by international standards. Ground transport infrastructure gets middling marks (55th), and its tourism infrastructure remains underdeveloped (ranked 80th), with few hotel rooms available and few ATMs, although on a positive note tourism infrastructure has seen a marked improvement since last year.