Political consequences: USA and China: View damaged – and tourism suffers

So far, crises and conflicts of the past few years have harmed China more than the United States. The two major German airports Frankfurt and Munich report an increase in passenger numbers on the US routes, on the other hand, in China, even after US President Donald Trump took office. And in direct comparison of the respective global number of visitors, the United States has overtaken China since 2019.

Expert world expects Trump crisis in US tourism

From January to May, the Munich airport counted almost 1.2 million passengers in air traffic with the United States – almost 37,000 more than a year earlier. In Frankfurt, too, the passenger numbers increased to 944,300 in the first four months – without May – at 7,600. So far, this has not indicated a huge Trump effect. However, this data cannot be found in whether the pilots were mostly occupied by US citizens or Europeans. The numbers include both departing and incoming passengers.

The fact that Trump’s second term will harm US tourism is consensus in the professional world: According to the world tourism association WTTC and the Oxford Economics advisory institute, the USA-based world tourism association WTTC and the Oxford Economics advisory institute are coming to the USA this year because foreigners stay away because foreigners remain away. The “Spiegel” dedicated the cover story of his latest edition to the Trump-related travel crisis.

China tourism: Pandemie has an effect, Ukraine war harms

On the China flight routes from and to Munich and Frankfurt, the number of passengers has already shrunk this year: around 1,300 to almost 203,000 passengers during the first five months in Munich. In the first four months in Frankfurt, there were 180,300 passengers who flew to China or arrived from there, 27,000 fewer than a year earlier. A quasi-identical picture can also be seen in the long-term comparison of 2019 and 2024: Sunken passenger numbers gradually and China, higher in the balance in US air traffic.

Why is that? “China has changed significantly,” says Dennis Utzerath, tourism specialist at the international management consultancy BCG in Cologne. In Corona pandemic, the flight offer was coated very strongly.

And because of the Ukraine War, European airlines have been flying around Russian airspace in expensive detours since 2022, Chinese. “It has become much more difficult for European airlines to be competitive against Chinese airlines,” says Uterath. Several European airlines – including Lufthansa and British Airways – have made connections to China.

Tour operators see increasing interest in China again

“Surprisingly, the still weak passenger numbers from Germany towards China do not allow a conclusion about the actual tourist demand for China,” says Holger Baldus, security manager at the Munich travel provider Studiosus. The background of the passenger numbers is the route settings of European carriers towards China. The travel provider even sees an astonishing recess of China tourism from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, according to the manager “currently still recessed by the scarce availability of flight seats”.

The largest German tour operator TUI also reports that interest in China is growing – “of course of a fairly clear starting point”, as a spokesman for the company says.

China’s reputation in the western world has been suffering for a long time

It is obvious, however, that China has lost its attractiveness internationally since Corona pandemic. According to official figures, almost 96.6 million foreigners traveled to the People’s Republic in 2024, it was only around 64.9 million – a decline of about a third. Traffic traffic to the USA recovered much faster after the end of the pandemic: in 2019, the United States counted 79.3 million visitors, less than the People’s Republic. Last year it was 72.3 million – more than in China.

China’s prestige in the western world is suffering considerably longer than that of the United States. The effect of reporting-for example on state surveillance and sniffing, brutal corona lockdowns, pollution or threats of war against Taiwan-cannot and cannot be measured.

Tourism lives from “positive pictures in the head”

“The topic of image certainly plays a role in China,” says management consultant Utzerath. Bad publicity always leaves traces. “And that is less due to the fact that a country would be” below “, but that the river tears off on beautiful experiences, positive travel reports and impressions.” This shifts the interest. “I would not attach excessive drama, but that shows what a volatile business is tourism. The industry lives in the head of headlines and positive pictures. “

The same volatility also applies to the United States: “At the moment it is not that many headlines speak to travel to the USA of all people if you were not there last year,” says Uterath. On the other hand, the dollar change course is currently cheap for Europeans.

China needs tourists as a support of a weak economy

Unlike the US government, Beijing expressly wants to lure more travelers into the country. In the meantime, the Chinese government has relaxed its complicated and expensive visa policy. Germans no longer need a visa for business or tourism trips. Those who enter can stay for 30 days now. This regulation also applies to numerous other European countries.

The additions to the digital payment system China have also become easier through translated apps and acceptance of foreign credit cards. In the first quarter of this year, the authorities estimated the entry from foreigners to around 17.4 million – an increase in a year in the year by a little more than a third.

Beijing hopes that tourism will also help the domestic economy. China also wants to boost the weak demand and the excited consumer mood that affect economic output with more domestic tourism. New offers – such as train trips with health care and care on board, which are specially designed for seniors – are also intended to move the older population to greater consumption.