Big surprise

"I was quite surprised about five years ago when I was staying near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. There were a couple of smallish hotels around the corner that had been bought by a Chinese travel corporation," he said.

"The people who stayed there got picked up by a Chinese tour company-owned bus with a Chinese guide and they even went to a Chinese restaurant owned by the inbound operator. It was classic Chinese vertical integration," he said.

Faulkner at Colliers International said Chinese tourists will become ever more sophisticated and want to break free of just a plain package.

He said a large number will still just want to go to places like Hainan, the Chinese tropical island in the South China Sea which has seen massive hotel investment in recent years.

"I think if I was northern Chinese and wanted a place in the sun I would go to Hainan because it is easy to get to and doesn't involve getting a visa," he said.

Faulkner added despite the huge rise in tourism numbers it was still a relatively small proportion of Chinese who travel.

"A fair proportion of people can't even afford a bus ticket to the next town and never go on a holiday. They are probably not going to be in the market for some considerable time," he added.

(China Daily October 25, 2010)