'Five-star hotels look too old, service is not so good and prices are high': Why Chinese tourists don't like Australia - and would rather holiday in RUSSIA

    Australia is only the 17th most popular destination for Chinese tourists
    It ranks behind colder, more expensive places like Russia and Switzerland
    With more Chinese traveling overseas, Australia risks missing out
    Lack of new hotels, service and investment are blamed for the slump
    Australia's top landmarks like Sydney and beaches remain popular[CN]

澳洲仅排在中国人最想去旅游的国家第17位。它比更酷寒、更昂贵的俄国瑞士等国排名更后。随着越来越多中国人外国游，澳洲却遭受无人问津局面。新酒店不足、服务不到位，投资缺乏是旅游人数剧减的成因。澳洲的最著名经典，如悉尼啊，海滩啊还是一如既往的受欢迎。

Chinese tourists are shunning the sunny beaches of Australia for the frozen mountains of Russia and Switzerland because its facilities are not up to scratch[CN]

中国游客不去澳洲的阳光沙滩，而去俄国和瑞士的寒冷山区。原因是澳洲的基础设施没达到标准。

Australia was only the 17th most popular destination for China's growing number of holidaymakers booking package holidays between April and June this year[CN]

中国今年4-6月份，中国假日游客跟团游人数剧增，澳洲只排在中国游客最喜欢去的旅游景点第17位。

It ranked below Russia, in 13th, despite it lacking Australia's sunkissed beaches[CN]

它排在俄国（第13位）之后，尽管俄国没有澳洲倍享阳光的沙滩。

With the number of Chinese travelers quadrupling in the past decade, along with their spending, Australia risks missing out if it does not become more attractive[CN]

中国外国游人数比起过去有4倍之多，这么多的花销，澳洲再不重振雄风，就会损失惨重。

Australia still has enviable assets that draw in tourists from around the world like Sydney Harbour, glorious beaches and the outback[CN]

澳洲依旧拥有世界闻名的令人羡慕的旅游资源，比如悉尼海港、亮丽的沙滩和内地风景。

Whitehaven Beach (pictured) in the Whitsundays was also named the 12th best beach[CN]

白色天堂海滩（如图），位于圣灵岛，在最好沙滩中排12名。

China's declining enthusiasm for Australian getaways was blamed on a lack of investment in hotels (Four Seasons in Sydney pictured) and other tourism infrastructure[CN]

中国对澳洲旅游景点热度大减归咎于酒店方面的投资不足（图为四季酒店）以及其他旅游基础设施。

Many of Australia's top hotels (Sydney's Shangri-La pictured) were built in the late 1980s and 1990s in the tourist boom that followed the film Crocodile Dundee

A revamp of Sydney's Sheraton on the Park (pictured) is being promoted by Tourism Australia

China is Australia's biggest source of tourists, who spent $7 billion a year, with Tourism Australia projecting $13 billion by 2020

But that increase would mostly be driven by more Chinese people traveling, as only five per cent of its 1.35 billion population own a passport - with market share falling

Chinese tourists are shunning the sunny beaches of Australia for the frozen mountains of Russia and Switzerland because its facilities are not up to scratch.

Australia was only the 17th most popular destination for China's growing number of holidaymakers booking package holidays between April and June this year.

It ranked just below Switzerland at 16th and behind Russia at 13th and France at 10th with Asian neighbours making up the top nine led by Thailand and South Korea, according to figures from the China National Tourism Administration.

China is Australia's biggest source of tourists, who spent $7 billion a year, with Tourism Australia projecting $13 billion by 2020.

But that increase would mostly be driven by more Chinese people traveling, as only five per cent of its 1.35 billion population own a passport - with market share falling.

With the number of Chinese travelers quadrupling in the past decade, along with their spending, Australia risks missing out if it does not become more attractive. 

China's declining enthusiasm for Australian getaways was blamed on a lack of investment in hotels and other tourism infrastructure in favour of the resources sector.

'Five-star hotels look too old, service is not so good and prices are high for what you get,' Kevin Xu, general manager of Grand City Tours, which claimed to be  the biggest Chinese travel agent in Australia, told Bloomberg.

'In other parts of Asia, hotels are new and service is excellent. There are also not enough four-star hotels in the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs and in high season they increase prices a lot.'

Many of Australia's top hotels were built in the late 1980s and 1990s in the tourist boom that followed the film Crocodile Dundee and coincided with a shift to a service economy. 

Australia still has enviable assets that draw in tourists from around the world like Sydney Harbour, glorious beaches and the outback.

Sydney was named the 24th-best destination in TripAdvisor's 2016 Traveler's Choice Awards, and the Opera House was the 24th-best landmark just behind the Australian War Memorial.

Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays was also named the 12th best beach.

However, none of Australia's hotels cracked the top 25 list and its highest-ranked one - Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley - was only fourth in the South Pacific.

'We can do a lot more. If you look at Australia's market share in the flow of Chinese tourists, we're losing market share,' Star Entertainment Group chief executive Matt Bekier said. 

'There are more of them going to Switzerland, which is harder to get to and more expensive. Capacity is a big deal. Where do they go? We don't have the hotel rooms. There's just not enough capacity here.'

Tourism Australia five years ago realised the need for new, high-end hotels and is marketing projects like Dalian Wanda's $2 million projects in Sydney and the Gold Coast and a revamp of Sydney's Sheraton on the Park.