The number of tourists travelling the world reached over a billion at the end of last year. Around 80 million of them come from China and spend an average of £1,600 per visit.
Yet, more Chinese visit other parts of Europe than the UK because of awkward visa procedures that differ greatly from other European countries. Twenty-five European countries come under the Schengen Agreement of which the UK is not a member.
The UK China Visa Alliance said, “Chinese visitors spend some three times more than the average overseas visitor but far fewer visit the UK than go to our European neighbours, such as France.
“If we could match France’s success, the UK would earn an additional £1.2 billion annually and create a further 24,000 jobs.”
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) says tourism from China has gone up slightly, with statistics showing an increase of 6 per cent in visitor visas issued in the year to December 2012.
In August last year, Home Secretary Theresa May blocked plans to simplify the tourist visa procedure. In a Sunday paper in February this year, she attacked judges who used human rights to justify not deporting foreigners proved guilty of serious crime.
This month, a spectrum of measures designed to quell the numbers of EU migrants, including Romanians and Bulgarians, were put through in a home affairs cabinet committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. Mr Clegg, a Liberal Democrat, has said he would veto Mrs May’s wish to withdraw from the European Convention of Human Rights before the next election in 2015.
Together with the prime minister’s vow to hold a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, this move to the right by the Tories is seen to be a reaction to the UK Independent Party (UKIP), whose members gained ground in the recent Eastleigh by-election with 28 per cent of the vote, though they did not win.
The UK Home Office has already put in strict measures to quell immigration into the UK. From markers at June 2011 and June 2012, net migration has fallen from 247,000 to 163,000 according to its figures.
The Home Office website says this is happening while “ensuring we continue to attract the brightest and best highly skilled workers and genuine, talented students”.
A UKBA spokesperson said in an email: “Securing of the border and a simple visa regime are not mutually exclusive, and our current system in China does both. We have made it even more simple for Chinese tourists to apply for a visa -- with a six-page form that can be completed online in just 10 minutes.
“We will continue to make improvements wherever possible, but we will not compromise the security of our border.”
This would seem to be an improvement on what one Chinese traveller from northeast China said: “It took me one week to prepare the necessary materials (very complicated) and after I made an appointment from the website, it took me about three weeks to receive the visa finally (too long I think).”
The applicant then had to go in person to a specified centre to complete the form. “It took me four hours by train to get to Shenyang. The train tickets cost me about 350 yuan [around £37] back and forth. There are cheaper tickets but it would take much longer,” the visitor said. However, the UK claims to have twice as many visa application centres in China than do Schengen countries.
On December 12th, 2012, Teresa May set out promises to ease the visits to the UK by Chinese nationals. She included the establishment of a business network with embassy staff dedicated to assisting companies with their visa needs; a mobile biometric service; improved online applications, including translated documents; and enhancements to the Select Business Scheme to lessen reporting requirements.
There was no timetable given for these improvements except to launch the online application system in the coming April.
