Chinese tourists are among the most valued guests on the Las Vegas Strip; they spend nearly 1½ times as much as the average overseas visitor.
However, there will likely be fewer Chinese tourists visiting Las Vegas due to the global pandemic amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.
“Chinese tourism is going to be reduced,” observed Chunjuan Nancy Wei, an associate professor of international political economy and diplomacy at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. “The coronavirus has undoubtedly tainted public opinion on both sides of the Pacific.”
Placing blame
Early on in the coronavirus outbreak, President Donald Trump put much emphasis on the coronavirus’ origin, calling it the “Chinese Virus.” Recently, the President theorized that China could have released the virus through some sort of terrible “mistake” and suggested the release might have been intentional.
Operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Wuhan Institute of Virology is around 8 miles from a market that sells exotic animals, including bats, for food. This market is considered by some to be a possible source for the virus.
However, on May 3, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that there is “enormous evidence” the coronavirus had its origins in the lab. The World Health Organization’s emergency chief, Dr. Michael Ryan, said that Pompeo’s theory is speculation.
The clearinghouse for the network of U.S. spy agencies, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, has ruled out that the virus was man-made, however, it is continuing to investigate the origin of the global pandemic.
On the other hand, there is a conspiracy theory circulating in China that says the virus originated in the U.S.
Zhao Lijian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, tweeted on March 12, that “It could be US army who bring the epidemic to Wuhan. Make public your data! Be transparent! The US owe us an explanation!” However, Zhao provided absolutely no evidence.
China stated the tweet was not an official statement. Moreover, Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the U.S., called the theory “crazy.”
Huge on Las Vegas travel
The U.S. ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, commented in April that Zhao’s tweet was “really counterproductive and outrageous from the Chinese perspective because there is no credibility with it.”
It’s hard to know exactly how many Chinese citizens buy into this conspiracy theory and similar ones, observed John Osburg, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Rochester in New York. “It’s clear that the conspiracy theory has widely circulated on Chinese social media. It’s not just a few fringe corners of the Chinese internet,” he said.
Impact on Chinese relations
An April report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Eurasia Group Foundation found that a positive view of the U.S. among Chinese has fallen about 20% since last year. Another report released by the Pew Research Center showed that around two-thirds of Americans now have an unfavorable view of China, going from around 47% in 2017 to 66% this year.
Wei said the change in attitude toward the US is obvious in the new way Chinese refer to America; in Chinese, the United States is called “Mei Guo,” meaning “beautiful country.” But since the controversy concerning the origins of the virus, some are calling the U.S. “Chou Guo”, which means “ugly country.”
Other Chinese have replaced the Chinese calligraphy for America, which represents “beautiful, powerful and strong,” with calligraphy that means “incapable of testing.” This is meant to ridicule the US’s perceived lack of COVID-19 testing.
“The controversy concerning the origins of the pandemic with some American politicians calling it the ‘Chinese virus’ has made its way into the public mind of China,” Wei said.
Osburg said there has been a rise in anti-American and anti-foreign sentiment in China recently, and that the state-controlled media in China has pushed the idea that foreign countries, especially the United States, have botched their response to the coronavirus.
“This significant decrease in favorability could have a big impact on Chinese unwillingness to travel to the U.S.,” Wei observed.
Wei pointed out that vacation travel is not high on the list for most people during the global pandemic, and many Chinese will not have the money to travel overseas anyway. Also, the growing death toll in the U.S. doesn’t help.
Chinese state media has run a narrative of “soaring unemployment, collapsing GDP, long lines outside food banks, and politicians’ vowing to punish China. All this suggests to them that it’s not a good time to visit the U.S., including Las Vegas,” Wei said.
Recent data from Brand USA, a nationwide marketing initiative, showed that people in China are 37% less likely to travel overseas during the next 12 months, compared to the previous year. Concerns over international travel restrictions, limited experiences, and fears of contracting the coronavirus were the top reasons for Chinese not to travel.
Impact on travel
Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has revealed that in 2018, visitors from China were the fifth-largest group of international tourists in Las Vegas. Chinese tourists accounted for 4% of all international visitors.
While Las Vegas sees many more tourists from Canada, Mexico, Australia, and the United Kingdom, tourists from China have proven to be very valuable to this tourist-centric city.
According to LVCVA data, on average, Chinese visitors spend $3,127 during their U.S. travel, which is around $179 per day. On the other hand, the average international visitor only spends $2,039 per trip.
“The Chinese are an important and valuable visitor to Las Vegas,” said Lori Nelson-Kraft, LVCVA spokeswoman.
However, it will take some time before many Chinese tourists return. Nelson-Kraft thinks that international tourism in Las Vegas won’t experience a rebound until a vaccine or treatment for the virus is discovered. She also pointed out that Nevada can test for the virus and contact-trace.
“We think the first opportunities to attract international visitors will be from Canada and Mexico, because of their proximity as well as the high level of interest in visiting Vegas,” she said. In 2018, Canada and Mexico made up 47% of all international visitors in Las Vegas.
Wei believes that for Chinese tourism in Las Vegas to rebound, the U.S. will need to get the virus’ under control as well as foster friendlier relations with China, something she thinks will be “unlikely” during an election year.
But Osburg does not think anti-American feelings will be a big factor in the Chinese decision to come to Las Vegas, either for leisure or business. He thinks some could be even more enthusiastic about traveling to Las Vegas trade shows for business, due to many factories in China are in dire need of orders after the forced shutdown.
“I believe economic factors will be more important than the fears surrounding the virus or residual hostility towards the U.S.,” he said. “But, if infections spike up, then fear surrounding the coronavirus will definitely have a huge impact on travel to the United States.”
