‘Anti-Asian Hate’ Big Obstacle for U.S. Tourism as China Outbound Travel Restarts
Photo Credit: The neon lights of Shanghai. Flickr / Dickson Phua
Skift Take
More and more, the unfriendliness of a destination has unsafe undercurrents to it. The worst that could happen is if Covid is gone, but anti-Asian hate that it has bred lives on and becomes the biggest obstacle to getting Chinese and Asian tourists to travel again.
Mainland Chinese travelers are now putting "friendliness" as the top factor influencing their willingness to travel overseas, above even the absence of Covid-19 cases in a destination and travel protocols and encumbrances, a recent survey by Chinese data and marketing agency Dragon Trail has shown.
They also deem the United States as by far the most unsafe destination, followed by Canada, Australia and the UK. As it happens, these are countries whose relations with China have soured, be it over trade, Huawei, Hong Kong or other political issues.
The findings come as so-called “anti-Asian hate” is rising in the U.S. Tuesday's Atlanta shooting rampage that killed eight people, six of whom were Asians, including four Koreans, serves as another red flag, albeit at press time police are still investigating the motive.
Stop AAPI Hate, a center that tracks incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, reports close to 4,000 hate crimes from March 19, 2020 to February 2
