????1995年，喜來登（Sheraton）開設了在北京的第一家分店——北京喜來登長城飯店（Great Wall Sheraton）。喜達屋酒店與度假村國際集團（Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide）CEO陳盛福稱：“過去，那里是西方游客的聚集地。”只有員工是中國人。如今，喜達屋在中國共有120家酒店，另有106家正在建設當中。中國旅游業是推動喜達屋增長的最大因素，這種影響不僅發生在中國，也輻射到世界其他地區。

????這種增長意味著中國國內外的旅游行業都需重新思考，到底應該如何向中國游客開展營銷攻勢。在中國成都舉辦的“財富全球論壇”（Fortune's Global Forum）上，由陳盛福、攜程網（Ctrip）副董事長兼總裁范敏、香港房地產公司瑞安集團（Shui On Group）董事長羅康瑞等組成的座談小組均表示，未來幾十年，中國游客將是影響旅游行業最為重要的因素。

????目前，喜達屋已經開始廣受中國人的歡迎， 酒店提供拖鞋和房間內茶壺，以及普通話服務。不過陳盛福也承認，游客們對于酒店僅能提供這樣的服務通常會感到失望。原因是，中國游客在國內旅行時已經習慣了更高檔次的服務。此外，相比在世界其他地區的酒店，中國國內的許多酒店相對較新，而且中國的勞動力成本更低，意味著酒店可以雇傭更多服務人員。這可能是導致游客失望的原因；陳盛福還講到了一件事，一名游客認為他在新西蘭居住的四星級酒店頂多只有二星水平，于是為此起訴酒店。

????羅康瑞表示，市場增長的速度驚人，尤其是在香港。香港60%的游客來自大陸。許多游客到香港去采購奢侈品，因為那里的價格更便宜。羅康瑞說：“這個現象非常出人意料，短短10年前還沒有人能預見到會這種情況。” 許多香港當地居民抱怨稱，他們感覺在自己的城市受到排擠，因為由于游客大批涌入，他們根本進不去餐廳，也看不了演出。

????但這并不是壞事——隨著經濟持續增長，中國旅游業的增長甚至有望進一步提速。目前，約有超過50%的中國白領擁有護照，而在美國擁有護照的白領比例還不到20%。

????陳盛福表示，中國的旅游熱仍將持續。“中國的富人大都居住在城市里，有一輛汽車和滿滿一柜的鞋子。但有一樣東西是永遠不會飽和的，那就是經歷。他們的消費能力永不枯竭。”（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????In 1995, Sheraton opened its first hotel in Beijing -- called the Great Wall Sheraton. "It was an enclave for Western travelers," says Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. The only Chinese were the employees. Today, Starwood has 120 hotels in China, with another 106 under construction. Chinese tourism is the biggest single factor driving Starwood's growth, not only in China but also in the rest of the world.

????That growth means the tourism industry has to think very differently about how it markets to the Chinese tourist, both at home and abroad. In a panel at Fortune's Global Forum in Chengdu, China, van Paasschen, Fan Min, vice chairman and president of Ctrip, a Chinese travel services company, and Vincent Lo, chairman of the Shui On Group, a Hong Kong-based development and construction company, all say the Chinese traveler is the most important thing to happen to the tourism business in decades.

????Already, Starwood offers slippers and in-room tea makers, as well as Mandarin speakers in hotels popular with the Chinese. But van Paasschen admits that the tourists are sometimes disappointed that they aren't catered to more than that. That's partly because Chinese tourists who travel within China are used to a higher level of service, both because many of the hotels in China are much newer than they are in the rest of the world and because the low cost of labor means that staffs are larger. That can lead to disappointment; Fan tells the story of a tourist who actually filed a lawsuit, claiming that a four-star rated hotel he stayed in New Zealand was not worth any more than two.

????The speed of the market's explosion has come as a shock, says Lo, particularly in Hong Kong, where 60% of visitors come from the mainland. Many of them are shopping for luxury goods, which are more inexpensive there. "That was totally unexpected," says Lo, "even 10 years ago." Some Hong Kong natives have taken to grumbling that they feel pushed out in their own city, unable to get into restaurants or shows because of the influx of tourists.

????Still, that's not a bad problem to have -- and as the economy continues to grow, the rate of Chinese tourism will continue to rise at an even faster pace. Already, more than 50% of Chinese white collar workers have a passport, compared with less than 20% in the United States.

????Their wanderlust isn't likely to stop, says van Paasschen. "The average affluent Chinese lives in a city, with an automobile and a closet full of shoes. But the one thing you can't saturate is experiences. They're completely non-depletable. "