In recent two years, there is a way to travel more and more popular with the Chinese-self-driving. It has an "English name" for literature and art, called roadtrip..
Choose a small holiday, date three or two friends, rent a car or drive your own car straight on the road. No regiment, no tour guide, where to go, where to play, the itinerary is up to you.
Australia has a number of self-driving routes, so more and more Chinese tourists to Australia play self-driving tours. The number of Chinese tourists renting cars and camping equipment in Australia rose 112 percent in 2017 (the first three quarters), according to (Tourism Research Australia), an Australian tourism study.
In 2017, there were 11500 Chinese tourists renting cars and spending a total of 103000 nights, up 45 percent from last year. During this period, the number of Chinese tourists to Australia increased 12% to a total of 1.2 million. But their contribution to Australia's economy fell by 4% from a year earlier to $3.1 billion. The reason is that it is affected by the decrease in the number of people traveling with groups.
Stuart Lamont, head of the Australian RV industry association, said Chinese tourists, especially younger ones, are increasingly confident about self-help tours and know how they should play in Australia.
"they want to get some authentic experience and look for a pure Australian style of travel."
"and renting a RV and camping happens to be something like that. More and more people are going outside the traditional immigration cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, etc.). "
Luke Trouchet, the head of Apollp Tourism, Australia's largest rental car rental agency, said it was rare for Asian guests to be there three years ago. But he said: "Chinese tourists are our fastest growing inbound tourism market, their base is very small, but the growth is very rapid."
"this allows them to travel at any time, wherever they want to go, and where they want to stop in the middle", and the most self-driving routes they have chosen are Oceania Road and the Sydney-Brisbane coastal highway. In order to better serve Chinese tourists, they have specially translated and produced a Chinese version of the website and printed a safe driving brochure in Chinese, and added a new Chinese sales team to their team.
Indeed, Australia is very suitable for self-driving tours, Australia's major cities and airports have opened a number of car rental companies. It's easy to rent a car in Australia with a Chinese driver's license, as long as you have an original license and translation, and a credit card, you can rent a car anywhere.
But is Australian self-driving really suitable for every Chinese tourist?
Not really.
After arriving in Australia, many old drivers who dominate Chinese roads are not used to driving on the right and are not familiar with Australian traffic rules. In addition, a lot of self-driving lines winding, slope changes, resulting in a number of horrendous accidents. Just two weeks ago, a 36-year-old female tourist from Beijing, China, had a serious traffic accident in Geelong, near Melbourne.
She drove a rented blue Corolla with a 5-year-old boy and his mother.
The accident occurred at a crossroads in Princes Highway, west of Geelong, when a 100km/h-per-hour Ford F250 bumped into her car. The whole car was hit completely. All passengers were injured, while the female driver of the vehicle was the most seriously injured and is still not out of danger to his life. Two passengers on the other side of the Ford car were also injured in the accident, and Ford's driver reverted to what had happened when the driver was driving past the road where the accident occurred when he saw the blue Corolla suddenly switch from the auxiliary road to the main driveway. The Ford driver immediately turned the steering wheel and tried to slow down, but because the speed on the highway was so fast, he crashed into the Chinese tourist's car.
Police analysis, in fact, the cause of the incident is that the female driver failed to comply with the Australian "Give Way" rules. Ford drivers are driving normally, according to Australian traffic regulations, auxiliary road vehicles need to make way for vehicles on the main road, can not rush ahead of the road. In the final analysis, such a serious crash is due to Chinese female tourists unfamiliar with traffic regulations.
In addition, a serious traffic accident in Perth in February 2017 culminated in a 12-month suspended 12-month sentence for Chinese tourist Qingwei Li, who was sentenced to two years in prison for dangerous driving.
He was driving his family in Western Australia. He was retrograde and collided with the incoming car in front of him, causing serious injuries to passengers on both vehicles.
Such a tragic traffic accident as mentioned above has occurred more than once or twice in self-driving Chinese tourists to Australia.
Some examples are actually intended to warn friends who come to Australia: yes, self-driving can bring you a more pure Australian experience, but at the same time, it also means greater risk. If you are a long-term domestic friend asking for advice on traveling in Australia, I will not recommend them for a self-driving trip. Until you are familiar with Australian driving habits and traffic rules, self-driving is irresponsible to yourself and other vehicles on your way.
In short, whether or not to drive themselves, please assess their situation in advance after rational choice.