As I wandered around Chinatown with the locals and tourists last night marvelling at all the beautiful lanterns I wondered what the Year of the Water Dragon will bring for China and its increasingly wealthy citizens.
Whilst there is evidence that the Chinese are investing more in the UK as they buy an 8.7% stake in London’s water company Thames Water , there are also clear signs that they are also coming to Europe in greater numbers. UNWTO figures show that Europe is still taking the lion’s share of world tourist arrivals but Asia/Pacific arrivals are catching up.
The latest ONS
[1] figures shows that overseas visitors from the BRIC markets such Brazil, China, Russia visited the UK in greater numbers in 2011, whereas overseas travel by UK residents fell last year. Q3 2011 shows that there was a 9% increase in visits to the UK from overseas residents.
[2]
China’s huge growth in GDP which The Economist forecasts will be 9.2% for 2011 is evidence that the Chinese will be travelling in ever greater numbers. As Chinese foreign direct investments span the globe in markets rich in natural resources, such as Africa and economies such as the UK promising “solid returns”, there is the inevitable increase in business travel that will follow.
Luxury brand retailers across Europe have been enjoying a big increase in wealthy Chinese tourists over the past two years.
[3] The Chinese authorities have been recently cracking down on counterfeit goods and it is no longer cool in Asia to carry fake branded goods which will all help to drive up this trend. Chinese tourists purchased an average 713 euros of luxury goods whilst travelling in Europe in 2010, more than double the value bought by Russian tourists.
The latest
Euromonitor report for the top 100 cities for arrivals shows Hong Kong leading the pack and huge growth for Macau, driven by Chinese arrivals. The impressive Kai Tak airport has played a major role in the phenomenal growth of Hong Kong. It provides a lesson for London that its status and growth as a leading city will decline unless the thorny issue of London’s lack of airport capacity is fixed.
For those countries wanting to attract more Chinese tourists, the key is to obtain the Approved Destination Status (ADS) which allows Chinese tourists to visit in organised, pre-sold groups. This has driven up to 50% increases in Chinese visitors, according to those countries which have already received ADS, such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and more recently Canada.
China is forecast to have 100 million outbound tourists by 2020
[1], according to the Head of the Asia Pacific Region so it’s no wonder that many countries are pushing for ADS. In recent years China has started to see a trade deficit for the first time in 30 years, like the UK, as the Chinese are spending more abroad than inbound tourists spend in China.
As the yuan has increased in value more than 20% against the euro over the last few years (especially during the recent euro crisis), it is clear that we will be spotting many more Chinese tourists admiring those Chinese lanterns in Chinatown in the years ahead.
Want to know more?
World Travel Market will be running the first half day WTM Vision Conference in China, in association with CBN & MICE and World Travel Online on 10
th May 2012 at the World Travel Fair at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre. For more information please
click here.
Happy Chinese New Year to you all and do share your New Year stories with us.
Posted: 23/01/2012 00:12:45
A belated Happy New Year to you. Following a wonderful break in the Philippines I thought I would share some thoughts on what 2012 might bring for the travel sector.
1. The Asian Impact
It has been very striking over the last year to witness the huge volume of Asian tourists from Korea, China and Japan now visiting countries such as the Philippines and Nepal. Hotels find that their Asian guests defect to other competitors unless they meet their needs. A Filipino hotelier complained to me last week that Korean visitors used to stay at her hotel but now stay at other new hotels run by Koreans. As China gears up for its New Year I shall be reflecting on the Asian impact on tourism in next week’s blog. Is Europe ready to meet the special needs of a large increase in Asian visitors?
2.More Muslim tourists
The press in the Philippines have been urging their tourist board to do more to cater to the special needs of Muslim visitors such as providing lists of hotels and restaurants serving halal food. We can expect to see more visitors to and from Muslim countries as they recover from the Arab Spring.
3.Demand for no frills accommodation
The Economist
[1] featured a new hotel with windowless rooms near Picadilly Circus in London. Whilst Europeans are not accustomed to such rooms I notice that this type of room is quite popular in Asia, so may prove to be a hit with our Asian budget tourists.
The recession across Europe is driving more budget travel. As
e-tid[2] comments on the decline in spend on overseas trips from the UK during 2011, budget chains such as
Premier Inns[3] and
Travelodge[4] have big expansion plans.
4. More self catering
The holiday home sector has also been forecast to grow by
Phocuswright.
[5] following
a raft of mergers and acquisitions. More travellers consider holiday homes, camping and “
glamping” (glamorous camping holidays) as alternative ways to still have a holiday on a limited budget.
5. Flashpackers
A new breed of “flashpackers”
[6] - tech savvy, independent travellers with backpacks, but bigger budgets, often on extended career breaks, are also visiting more adventurous destinations.
6. Early boost to summer travel
The new UK bank holiday on June 4th and 5th to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee may provide an early boost to UK domestic and outbound travel trends this summer.
7. Lessons in capacity management
There are some important lessons for our London Olympics from London’s New Year celebrations when over 250,000 people attended the
fireworks. London is such an international melting pot of cultures that UK Olympic visitors should be able to find their favourite food. We just need to ensure that adequate facilities are provided during the Olympics to cope with peak demand.
What key travel themes do you think will emerge during 2012?
Do you think the UK bank holiday Jubilee weekend will help to drive an early summer travel trend?
Who has seen the increasing number of “glampers” and “flashpackers”?
[1] The Economist January 14th 2012, Page 29 “Room without a view”
[2] Source_e-tid.com 12 Jan 2012
[3] “Whitbread is set to increase the size of Premier Inns by 50% with its five year expansion plan”
[4] Travelodge aims to open another 16 hotels and saw 15% year on year growth from 1 June-20 August 2011.
[5] Phocuswright predicts European holiday rentals will be popular in 2012.
Posted: 17/01/2012 00:43:19