Tourists from different parts of the globe have continued  to shun Beijing during their tours throughout 2013. This is amid the  strengthening Yuan and the rising pollution which has seen the numbers drop to  about 4.2 million visitors in the months of January to November from more than  5.01 million visitors in 2012. The data were published by Beijing Commission of  Tourist Development and China Tourism Academy. A report that had been done earlier by domestic travel agents  revealed that the visitors’ numbers had dropped by about half in the  first three quarters of the year when compared with the previous  year.

The 2008 Olympics hosted in the city was one of the things that  attracted lots of visitors. The numbers rose for about 5 years until 2012 when  the industry experienced a 3.8% decline. This was followed by a drop further in  the next year and subsequent years. This was quite unexpected because the city  had come up with new policies like a 72 hour visa waiver for all the passengers  on transit. This was introduced in a bid to enhance the tourism industry in  China.

Only about 14,000 tourists took advantage of this waiver  according to the Entry Frontier Inspection and Beijing General Station of Exit.  This was short of around 20,000 that the officials had targeted when they  developed the program.

The deputy director who works for the Institute of  International Tourism which is under China Tourism Academy, Ms. Jiang Yiyi, said  that one of the reasons why the tourists’ numbers dropped is because of the  strengthening Yuan currency. In 2013 there was a 3% Yuan appreciation against  the US dollar. This made Beijing become a more expensive destination when  compared with the previous years which were good. At the same time, there are  some countries that enjoyed more visitors because their currencies weakened.

Ms. Jiang continued to say that while the RMB was rising other  countries, China’s competitors, has their currencies depreciating such as Japan.  This implies that travelling to some Asian countries became cheaper when  compared to traveling to China which was more costly and tiresome. The Yen fell  21% in 2013 against the dollar. This boosted their tourism industry as it  attracted 10 million tourists from overseas.

Officials also noted that the rising pollution could  have something to do with the reducing numbers. Pollution levels had  gone off charts in the month of December with the worst bout of huge smog being  the highlight of pollution from Beijing.

Tourism officials in China are putting in a lot of effort to  reverse this trend so that it can enjoy high numbers of tourists from all over  the globe. Experts say that some of the measures that will be taken include  lowering ticket prices and revamping the tour packages that had become  outdated.

They also plan to come up with a long term solution to enhance  the country’s investment and image so as to attract more  tourists.