Travel expenses discouraging Chinese football fans

Global Business

Top football players from 32 countries are descending on Brazil for the World Cup, as are millions of football fans from around the world. But for the country that has the highest number of outbound tourists every year, China is not seeing too many people travel to Brazil. It seems the long distance and expensive cost are simply too much.

As one of the major travel agencies in Beijing, HH Travel has launched two World Cup-themed trips to Brazil. One includes tickets to the quarter final, semifinal, and final games. It comes in at more than 79,000 US dollars.

While the other costs more than 64,000 US dollars, with a ticket to the final, and an extra trip to Argentina. These are certainly not prices everyone is able and willing to pay.

Despite the high cost, the first package was sold out, while half the quota for the second package has been booked up.

Statistics from the company show male soccer fans between 40 and 50 years old are the primary customers of the World Cup packages.

But they are just a fraction of the millions of football fans in China.

The World Cup will last one month, and the tourism authority of Brazil predicts that more than 600,000 foreign travelers will visit the country during that period. CCTV’s Tang Bo reports.

Travel expenses discouraging Chinese football fans

Top football players from 32 countries are descending on Brazil for the World Cup, as are millions of football fans from around the world. But for the country that has the highest number of outbound tourists every year, China is not seeing too many people travel to Brazil. It seems the long distance and expensive cost are simply too much.