客源 (kè yuán) — source of tourists; customer base

Definition

A business/marketing term for the 'source of customers or tourists' — where clients come from or the pool they make up. Usually paired with words like 开发, 扩大, or 增加 when discussing growth of a customer base.

noun
source of touristscustomer base

Examples

  • 客源。
    Zhè ge lǚ yóu gōng sī de zhǔ yào kè yuán lái zì yà zhōu.
    This travel company's main source of tourists comes from Asia.
  • 客源。
    Wǒ men xū yào kāi fā xīn de kè yuán.
    We need to develop new customer sources.
  • 客源。
    Jīn nián kè yuán bǐ qù nián duō le hěn duō.
    This year's customer base is much larger than last year's.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

客kècustomer
源yuánsource

“客” customers or tourists, “源” source; the source from which customers come.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè客kè
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In 客, 宀 is a roof and 各 gives the sound; the character meant a guest.

Open 客 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
原
原yuán源yuán
Same sound today

源 combines 水 (water) and 原 (origin): 水 points to water, and 原 gives the sound.

Open 源 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.