China Southern expects significant increase in Chinese tourists to Australia

China Southern Airlines President, Tan Wangeng, stated the carrier expects a significant increase in Chinese tourists to Australia. "1.3 billion Chinese people have become rich; they need to travel abroad and they need to consume their money. Why Australia? Australia is well endowed with tourism resources, the climate is different to China and the people of Australia and China are friendly without any conflict" (The Age, 20-Sep-2010). In 2009, 366,000 Chinese tourists visited Australia with a spend of AUD2.8 billion, with China this year overtaking Japan to become Australia's fourth-largest source of tourists. China Southern now operates three times weekly Guangzhou-Melbourne and daily Guangzhou-Sydney services, with frequency to increase on 01-Nov-2010, to daily and twice daily, respectively. The carrier is also planning to launch three times weekly services to Brisbane. By Mar-2011, the carrier will increase China-Australia frequency with twice daily services to Melbourne, daily Brisbane services and the addition of a fourth Australian destination such as Cairns.