The article suggests that for many on the tour, this was a once in a lifetime kind of trip. "For many, it was the first time they traveled abroad, and the last

The article suggests that for many on the tour, this was a once in a lifetime kind of trip. "For many, it was the first time they traveled abroad, and the last time they would travel to Europe. This trip was a little bit like a trophy." I'm not sure how much these trips cost compared to the average Chinese salary, but it would make sense - I know that many Americans have been to Europe once - as a graduation gift, or honeymoon, for instance - and could not justify a trip like that with any sort of regularity (combine high prices and few vacation days; and then when you start having to include kids etc., forget about it). More "regular" vacations for the Americans that can afford it would be other places in the US, or perhaps resorts in Mexico/Canada/etc (the Chinese equivalent would be countries in southeast Asia that are cheaper - both in airfare and local expenditures - than Europe). Sure, all of my SF coworkers go to Iceland and Japan and Patagonia for vacation, but this is a very small, privileged portion of the population we're talking about - not at all representative of the broader US population. This report [0] is quite telling: in 2016, 80 million Americans traveled abroad - 45 million of which went to North America, and only 13 million went to Europe. [0] https://travel.trade.gov/tinews/archive/tinews2017/20171026.asp https://travel.trade.gov/tinews/archive/tinews2017/20171026....