Impact of Approved Destination Status on Chinese travel abroad: an econometric analysis

Since the early 1990s, China's government has negotiated Approved Destination Status (ADS) with 120 countries. The agreements allow government-approved travel agencies to market group tours and obtain visas in bulk to ADS destinations. The authors apply a fixed-effects estimation model to analyse how ADS has affected outbound tourist travel from China, using visitor arrivals data from 61 foreign destinations from 1995 to 2005. Various model specifications indicate that ADS has resulted in significant increases in arrivals from China, averaging 52% over three years. The authors also find evidence of travel diversion as more countries have received ADS.