USC study to target Chinese travelers

Professor expects ‘deluge of people that will one day be coming’ to U.S.

Data from a USC study will be used by federal officials to help persuade the Chinese government to allow more of its citizens to visit the United States.

USC professor Rich Harrill and his colleague Richard Li launched the study to address an expected future boom in Chinese travelers to the U.S. Harrill is director of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Travel & Tourism Industry Center at USC.

Harrill and Li want to determine why Chinese travelers want to come to the United States, what they want to see, what they want to buy and how much they will spend.

They want to be able to put S.C. in a position to market to the Chinese, who have a sometimes confused notion about the state, Harrill said. “A lot of people that we talked to in China thought that Michael Jordan was from here, and we had to let them know that there are two Carolinas,” he said.

Li, a Chinese national and center faculty associate, is managing the study.

More than 100 million Chinese tourists are expected to be traveling the globe by 2020, according to the World Tourism Organization. But while some Chinese already visit the United States as part of official delegations, Chinese citizens generally are only able to visit countries with Approved Destination Status, which does not include the U.S.

China has granted Approved Destination Status to more than 100 countries.

U.S. officials are working to change that, and Harrill wants to make sure the United States and South Carolina in particular are ready when the increase comes.

The USC study, launched in July, attracted the attention of the both the federal government, which is contributing $50,000 toward the study, and the Travel Industry Association of America, which is providing $35,000 in cash and $15,000 in in-kind services. The two groups are partnering with USC on the study. The industry center is providing $70,000 in funds, Harrill said, for a total study cost of $170,000.

“We have a university, a nonprofit and the federal government collaborating to study this deluge of people that will one day be coming to the United States,” Harrill said.

Harrill believes the study is the only one of its kind.

The results will be available in December in time for the Joint China Commission of Trade meeting in Beijing. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez is expected to use the results in leading the meeting, said Helen Marano, director of the U.S. Office of Travel & Tourism Industries.

“The data from this study will be discussed, and that is where it will be used to influence policy,” Harrill said.

“If you are a researcher, to influence federal policy, that is kind of the holy grail,” Harrill said.

The China study has long-range implications for South Carolina, Harrill said.

“For the moment we need to think about Canada, Germany, the people that are coming now. But eventually (the Chinese) are going to come here,” he said.

South Carolina needs to be ready to respond, he said.

The study includes telephone surveys and focus group interviews in China as well as interviews with top Chinese tourism officials to find out their preferences and their motivations for travel to the United States.

“We will be competing eventually for these dollars. So it goes back to this notion of U.S. competitiveness, which is important to me,” Harrill said.

The Chinese know about Florida; they know about California; they know about New York, said Harrill, a Gaffney native. “I want them to know about South Carolina.”

The center has been doing research in China for a couple of years and has found a need to heighten the state’s image.

“We do see the need to strengthen our brand. Of course, everybody knows about our beaches, and everybody knows about our golf. But being a country boy from Gaffney, I want people to know about Gaffney and Cowpens.”