中国年度赴英游客人数下滑
Business travel from mainland China to the UK dropped nearly 13 per cent last year, despite efforts by the government to welcome Chinese investment and simplify visas.
尽管英国政府在欢迎中国投资和简化签证程序方面付出了一些努力，但中国内地人士赴英商务旅行人次去年仍减少了近13%。The Office for National Statistics said there had been 48,000 business trips to the UK by Chinese in 2014, down from 55,000 the previous year.
英国国家统计局(Office for National Statistics)表示，2014年中国赴英商旅人次为4.8万，而上一年为5.5万。
“Chinese visitors to the UK are falling. The government’s plans to increase numbers have failed miserably. Far from being a record, these numbers show the UK continues to miss out on the jobs and growth that Chinese visitors could bring to these shores,” said Willie Walsh, chief executive of International Airlines Group. “While the US has just introduced 10-year visas, the UK is tinkering with changes to a system that is not fit for purpose. What we need is a radical overhaul.”
“中国赴英游客在减少。政府提高这些数字的计划遭遇惨败。这些数字不仅远远没有创下记录，而且还表明英国仍在错失中国游客可能给英国带来的工作和增长机会，”国际航空集团(IAG)首席执行官威利•沃尔什(Willie Walsh)表示，“美国刚刚推出了10年期签证，而英国还在对一套已经不适用的制度作小修小补。我们需要的是大刀阔斧的改革。”
However, Stephen Phillips, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council, said: “That does not make sense to me based on what I know. What I hear is that the number of visas approved is rising. The only thing I can think of is that government delegations have fallen off a bit because of the clampdown on spending.”
然而，英中贸易协会(CBBC)总裁傅仲森(Stephen Phillips)表示：“根据我所知道的情况，没道理出现这样的结果。我听说，获批签证的数量在不断上升。我能想到的唯一解释是，出于整顿开支的缘故，中国政府代表团的数量有些许减少。”There was an even steeper 35 per cent fall in the number of Chinese coming to visit friends and family but an 18 per cent rise in the number of Chinese holiday makers, who made 86,000 trips.
赴英走亲访友的中国游客人次减少得更多，降幅为35%；不过，赴英度假的中国游客人次增加了18%，达到8.6万。VisitBritain, the government’s tourism agency, said this was a vindication of the £1.6m marketing campaign that began last year. “VisitBritain has launched a number of high-profile, consumer-facing campaigns in China recently. We are optimistic that there will be a further increase in Chinese holiday visits in 2015 and beyond,” it said.
英国旅游局(VisitBritain)表示，这是去年启动的一项耗资160万英镑的营销活动取得的成果。该机构表示：“英国旅游局最近在华推出了一些面向消费者的高调活动。我们相信，2015年及以后赴英度假的中国游客人次还会进一步上升。”Overall, the number of Chinese visitors fell 4,000 to 233,000, even as the UK enjoyed a record year, with a 5.2 per cent rise to 34.4m foreign visitors. It was the first time in five years numbers from China, which have grown an average of 13.4 per cent a year, have fallen.
总体上看，尽管英国今年接待的外国游客人次增长了5.2%，至3440万，创下历史纪录，但中国游客人次减少了4000，至23.3万。这是5年来中国游客人次首次出现下滑。在这5年里，赴英中国游客人次年均增长13.4%。Prime Minister David Cameron has repeatedly pledged to open Britain to Chinese investment. The government’s target is to attract 650,000 Chinese visitors, spending £1.1bn, by 2020.
英国首相戴维•卡梅伦(David Cameron)多次承诺要向中国的投资敞开英国的大门。英国政府的目标是，到2020年时，吸引65万人次的中国游客，并使其在英支出达到11亿英镑。According to the UK China Visa Alliance, about 90 per cent of Chinese tour groups visiting Europe omit Britain – which is not part of the EU’s visa-free Schengen zone – resulting in £1.2bn of lost revenue each year. In an effort to streamline the process, Theresa May, home secretary, announced last summer that Chinese tourists would be permitted to use the same website to apply for both a British and a Schengen visa.
英国对华签证联盟(UK China Visa Alliance)数据显示，在来欧洲观光的中国旅游团当中，约有90%略过了英国——英国不在欧盟免签申根区内——这使英国每年损失12亿英镑收入。为了简化程序，英国内政大臣特雷莎•梅(Theresa May)去年夏天宣布，中国游客将可使用同一网站申请英国签证和申根签证。But this only partially solved the problem, as Chinese applicants are still required to visit a separate UK visa centre to process their biometric data.
但这只是部分地解决了问题，中国申请者还是需要到一个单独的英国签证中心录入生物特征识别信息。And business groups were dismayed at the lack of any new dedicated measures to help corporate travellers.
而商业团体感到失望的是，英国政府未出台任何新的专门措施帮助商务旅客。The UK has included China in a fast-track visa scheme that allows wealthy businessmen to pay for a 24-hour turnround in their application.
英国已将中国纳入“快签”体系，富有的商务人士在申请时可付钱在24小时内走完整个审批流程。
