China-mania spread globally in the past few years , akin to when the Japanese started traveling some 30 years ago , when the world went into frenzy , pandering to Japanese customers ’ needs . In our view , this is going to be bigger and will last longer , given China ’ s population of 1.3 billion vs . Japan ’ s population of 127 million .
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— Bank of America Merrill Lynch , Capital Market Outlook March 2015
nesses are his NBA franchise , the Cavaliers , and the Horseshoe Casino , which is physically connected , by “ sky-bridge ” walkway , to Quicken Loans Arena .
On that unusual night one group of attendees , making their way from the arena to the casino , particularly stuck out . They appeared to be in their early 30s and only a few of them were wearing NBA apparel — of the visiting Golden State Warriors . Amid a backdrop whereby the crowd and the increasingly rowdy atmosphere was markedly Midwest-American-white , the other distinguishing characteristic of the group was even more distinctive : they were ethnically Chinese .
The casino floor , like the surrounding streets outside , was jam-packed with a mix of mostly voyeuristic curiosity seekers coming from the arena , casual gamblers and traditional slot players who may have forgotten about the big game that night and were now dealing with the consequences .
Perhaps surprisingly to some , the Horseshoe Cleveland has baccarat tables . It will come as a surprise to few that this group of Chinese guests had found them . As they saddled up to positions 1-2-3-5-6 , one of the women in the group reached into her purse , pulled out a stack of money and pushed it across the table toward the dealer to exchange for playing chips .
In baccarat there is usually no position 4 , because that number is homophonous with “ death ” in Chinese ; the nuances of superstition and luck within the mindset of the Asian gambler are seemingly endless .
Several octaves below the ambient crowd noise , slot machine clamor and John Mellencamp ’ s “ Hurts So Good ,” the young Chinese woman tapped her cash and rather firmly said to the dealer , “ liǎng wàn ” ($ 20,000 ). In short order a casino host , also of Asian descent , appeared and engaged the group in some light Chinese banter . It was just another Tuesday night in Cleveland , Ohio .
THE FUTURE IS ASIAN
F or some regional casinos , a few observed baccarat tables and a handful of Chinese-speaking staff may currently suffice . But for businesses located within geographic zones containing larger numbers of Asian residents and those situated in destination markets , this type of customer — specifically the Chinese millennial leisure traveler — will soon become increasingly important .
Chinese outbound tourists are already the world ’ s most numerous and most high-volume spenders . In 2014 , a record 109 million Chinese outbound tourists spent $ 164 billion . By 2019 , these numbers are expected to balloon to 174 million people spending an incredible $ 264 billion annually on outbound tourism . Nearly all of this growth in foreign travel has come over the past 10 years ; in 2000 , there were only 10 million Chinese outbound tourists .
The driving force behind this new wave of leisure travelers is Chinese millennials — especially those between 25 and 34 years old , who are in many ways different from both their parents and their peer groups in Western nations . This group of Chinese , born between 1980 and 1989 , comprise more than 200 million people , or about 17 percent of China ’ s 1.3 billion total population .
With China ’ s economy being among the largest in the world , the income levels of many of its citizens are now high enough to be able to travel abroad . Unlike their American counterparts still mired by the aftereffects of the Great Recession , Chinese millennials have seen their incomes rise nearly 35 percent over the past three years . In just the past year , the number of Chinese outbound travelers has increased by an astonishing 20 percent . This has not gone unnoticed by hoteliers , with nearly 60 percent of U . S . and 80 percent of AsiaPac destination-market businesses noting discernible increases in visitation by Chinese millennial guests .
Fully 90 percent of Chinese millennials surveyed recently by
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