Violent crime in the U.S. is a top concern for Chinese tourists considering travel there, according to new data from Morning Consult.
Why it matters: When Chinese tourists begin to venture back out into the world after COVID, U.S. gun violence may still keep them away, sending tourism dollars elsewhere and cutting back on opportunities for cross-cultural exchange.
Details: In a survey of 1,000 Chinese adults, 57% of respondents cited violent crime as a reason they might avoid travel to the U.S.
- An even higher proportion of Chinese who expressed a prior interest in traveling to the U.S. were concerned about violent crime. 35% of respondents said they were interested in traveling to the U.S. — and of those, 93% said fear of violent crime might dissuade them from going.
- Respondents who had heard about the Uvalde school shooting in May were more likely to say gun violence was a reason to avoid travel to the U.S. than were respondents who had not heard of it.
Between the lines: Gun violence in the U.S. is shocking and newsworthy, but that's not the only reason people in China are keenly aware of it.
- Gun violence in the U.S. often makes front-page news in China, where media points to the violence as an example of a supposed link between chaos and democracy.
What they're saying: The new survey data "shows that alarmist, consistent coverage of all the violent things that happen in the U.S. might be influencing Chinese people’s thinking, with industry effects," Scott Moskowitz of Morning Consult told Axios.
