EU bracing itself for huge influx of Chinese tourists
Tour operators and policy makers across the globe have been urged to prepare themselves, logistically, culturally and technologically, for a huge influx of Chinese tourists in the coming years. China’s tourism industry has grown exponentially in the past few years, with more than 130 million overseas trips made by Chinese tourists in 2017 alone, having risen by double digits since 2010. The International Air Transport Association has forecasted that China will replace the United States as the world’s largest aviation market by 2022. It also predicts there would be 921 million new Chinese air travelers by 2036, with the total number reaching 1.5 billion.
Pansy Ho Chiu-king, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Global Tourism Economy Forum (GTEF), said the Greater Bay Area alone, with a US$1.4trillion GDP, has 68 million prospective consumers who have strong financial capacity to travel, are linked to at least five airports within a one-hour-drive, and enjoy all major international airlines.
Welcoming Chinese tourists to EU
Mindful of the growing Chinese tourism market, the surging number of travelers and a lucrative business sector, many countries, including EU member states, have introduced favorable policies for Chinese tourists. Schengen visas for Chinese applicants are issued with the lowest rejection rate, with 2,110,103 Schengen visas issued to Chinese nationals in 2016. Visa holders can travel in the 26 Schengen countries for up to 90 days. Chinese passport holders have been granted visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 67 countries and territories to date.
Eduardo Santander, executive director and chief executive officer of the European Tourism Commission, said the 28-member strong European Union (EU) should be well equipped to welcome and charm Chinese travelers. “Education matters a lot in letting people in the industry know what Chinese tourists want from their trips and what their particular needs are. We (Chinese and the Europeans) have many things in common that should be underlined as we try to promote tourism,” he said.
The bottom line, however, is welcoming policies to “facilitate visa application procedures for the Chinese”, Santander said at a meeting with a delegation comprising representatives from the GTEF, the China Chamber of Tourism and the China Women’s Chamber of Commerce in Brussels, Belgium.
2018 EU-China Tourism Year
The GTEF is a global tourism event held annually in Macao to offer a platform for government officials, industry leaders and businesses worldwide to find common ground and work out strategies on tourism promotion and investment collaboration. Each year, it features a country or region as the focus of promotion. This year, the forum will highlight EU member states and drive EU-China economic and cultural exchanges, while unleashing the full potential of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
As an official partner of the 2018 EUChina Tourism Year (ECTY2018), GTEF orchestrated the joint delegation’s tour of Europe from April 21 to 28 as part of the year-round programme, aiming to cement partnership with EU member states and deepen understanding of each country’s tourism policy, business environment and investment opportunities.
One of the earlier activities GTEF set up to celebrate ECTY2018 was the EU-Macao Light Bridge illumination ceremony at the iconic Macao Tower on May 8. The event was jointly organized by the GTEF and the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao to commemorate Europe Day and the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the EU Office to Macao.
Decoding Chinese travelers
Unlike Western holidaymakers who enjoy relaxing on “sun and beach trips”, Chinese travelers love to visit capital cities and prefer “stop trips”, observed Michael Frenzel, honorary chairman of the GTEF. “They like moving around multiple places in a single trip rather than staying in one place for weeks.” That’s why Paris, Italy, London and Berlin are always popular with them. The future will see more tour packages that combine lesser known places and popular destinations, Frenzel said, and there are initiatives in southern Europe that combine visiting Greece and Egypt.
The change calls for industry stakeholders in other countries to fine tune their services and marketing strategies in accordance with Chinese people’s new travel habits. Affluent Chinese, in particular, go for tailor-made tours just for one-of-a-kind travel experience.
“In the past when people went to France, they would usually visit Paris and the southern part of the country, where there are sprawling vineyards. Places like Bordeaux, Burgundy and Languedoc are less visited, but they’re great destinations for wine tasting and gastronomy experience. They are places with huge potentials to be developed,” said Jean-Claude Baumgarten, vice-chairman of the GTEF and president and chief executive officer of the World Travel and Tourism Council from 1999 to 2011, who is French.
People to people exchange
While in Brussels, the delegation had an intimate conversation with Istvan Ujhelyi, a member of the European Parliament and vice-chair of the Transport and Tourism Committee. One of the initiators of the EU-China Year, Ujhelyi has focused on the EU’s tourism cooperation with China,. but contended that the collaboration should not be restricted to tourism alone.
Recognizing the positive outcomes brought by the GTEF to global tourism economy, Ujhelyi encouraged other industries to follow suit in hosting similar forums annually. “I would suggest that GTEF sister programs be introduced in Europe”, he said, so that people-topeople dialogue, an essential element for all industries, could be more frequent. With the Belt and Road Initiative and Greater Bay Area project uppermost in his mind, Ujhelyi plans to visit Zhuhai and meet Ho to thrash out further details on how to make their cooperation sustainable.
“In the past, we (GTEF) would approach certain countries and invite them to be our partners. Now things are different. Many countries come to us, offering to collaborate with us to raise awareness of their presence in China,” said Ho.
B&R fueling curiosity, driving tourism
On arrival in The Hague, the delegation met with officials in charge of tourism in Holland, including Jochum Haakma, chairman of the EU-China Business Council, who was formerly the Dutch Consul General in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The Netherlands is one of China’s biggest logistic suppliers in Europe, as well as China’s major trading partner, with considerable investments in China. The Belt and Road Initiative will fuel curiosity and eagerness for travel, Haakma said, adding he was ready to welcome more Chinese tourists to the Netherlands, given that the number of Chinese tourists to the country has been rising by about 10 percent annually.
The delegation went on to visit Hotelschool The Hague and citizenM Hotel in the Netherlands, and the Spanish Riding School and Hotel Sacher in Vienna, Austria.
“As the hospitality industry evolves constantly, so have tourists’ needs. We review our courses and curriculum every year to ensure that we produce the most soughtafter graduates for the industry,” said Paul Griep, director of Industry Relations & Alumni of Hotelschool The Hague. The school was ranked among the Top Ten Hotel Management Schools in the world in 2018.
“About 30 to 40 years ago, a hotel general manager would simply need a food and beverage background or some experience in hotel room services. But now, a general manager has to be more diversified, which means they should possess more comprehensive experience, such as in finance, owner and human relations,” said Griep.
Ho expressed interest in collaborating with the school, hoping to introduce its teaching and training concept to Zhuhai’s Hengqin district, where her Shun Tak Group has invested in a multi-purpose project.
Harnessing continued momentum
The global travel and tourism industry is projected to gather further momentum, generating 11.4 percent of the world’s GDP by 2028. Its contribution to the economy, to a large extent, is attributed to the creation of jobs. The sector is responsible for the creation of 7 million new jobs worldwide. Last year, 313 million jobs were on offer as a result of increased travel and tourism activities, accounting for one in 10 jobs on the planet.
Despite the economic rewards travel brings to tourist destinations and people’s well-being, tourism can backfire when local populations are overwhelmed by the hordes of tourists.
Mass tourism could weaken the stability of a society, which is a grave issue we may face, warned Baumgarten. This has already happened in some countries. In Spain, citizens and even the authorities have staged protests against tourists for intruding into their society and culture. To address that, he suggested spreading
tourism over the four seasons. “During the peak season, prices can be raised, and reduced in the low season. Also, off-thebeaten track destinations can be developed.”
His concern was echoed by Frenzel, who agreed that overcrowding will reduce travel experience to zero, and a numbercontrol mechanism is necessary. “We need to rely on intelligent systems to manage tourists. Visitors should be given a time slot at hot spots to ensure that every tourist will have a pleasant travel experience,” he suggested.
Air connectivity and visa facilitation
The absence of direct flight links and trouble-free visa application procedures are also key factors that deter Chinese holidaymakers. At the 2018 WTTC Global Summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova told the GTEF delegation: “Bulgaria is not among the Schengen countries. To visit Bulgaria, Chinese tourists have to apply for a visa specifically for our country…. We hope we can join the Schengen countries soon.” As for flight connections, she said Bulgaria has been actively seeking cooperation with Chinese private airline operators to open up direct air links with Beijing and Shanghai.
Also at the WTTC Global Summit, Minister of Argentina Tourism Gustavo Santos said Argentina has been making proactive efforts in streamlining visa application procedure for Chinese tourists and hoped that the straightforward procedure could increase Chinese travelers’ interest in visiting Argentina and its close neighbor Brazil. “We’re working on joint visa acceptance with neighboring countries, including Brazil and Chile. The policy will allow Chinese tourists with Brazilian visas to visit Argentina with the same visa, and vice versa,” said Santos.
Few Chinese people would associate Argentina with tourism as their understanding of the country is restricted to soccer, noted Aldo Elias, president of the Argentina Chamber of Tourism. He confessed that Argentina also has little knowledge of China. “We don’t know how to receive Chinese tourists. It’s a learning process for both sides.”
Argentina and Brazil have both set their sights on the vast Chinese travel and tourism market. In Buenos Aires, the two countries and GTEF signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate in 2019, with the two countries being featured as Partner Countries at GTEF 2019.
Argentina Chamber of Tourism will attend the GTEF 2018 in Macao this October, representing 21 tourism associations in Argentina. Elias said he expected Argentina’s tourism sector to grasp a better understanding of China after the forum, which will help them sell Argentina’s tourism products to Chinese customers and better accommodate Chinese tourists.
Global Tourism Economy Forum 2018
Global Tourism Economy Forum 2018 will be held in Macao from October 22 to 24 this year. As the first event to discuss global tourism economy in the context of the far-reaching Belt and Road Initiative, GTEF 2018 will leverage its role of a “bridge”, with the support of the Greater Bay Area to create opportunities for partnership and cooperation between stakeholders in the EU and Chinese tourism markets through bilateral trade meetings, business matching, networking, workshops, exhibitions, and other initiatives.
Ho, who has actively devoted herself and made tremendous contributions to the tourism industry at home and abroad, founded the Global Tourism Economy Research Centre in 2011 to champion sustainable development of global tourism, with a focus on China, and to unlock tourism’s potential to inspire collaboration within the tourism economy community, through the centre’s two platforms - research and GTEF. The centre publishes a yearly research report on Asian tourism trends with the World Tourism Organization, and masterminds the annual GTEF.
Innovative technologies can enhance the overall traveling experience. Technologies which are often considered disruptive transform the way people travel for the better. They allow us to better prepare for the whole trip logistically and mentally. On mobile devices, we can book the hotels and tickets, settle the fees, and use the search engine to do our homework concerning the destinations. Better knowledge of the designated country or city, as well as pre-planned logistics, saves travelers from unwanted cultural shock and unexpected anguish, which could be caused by traffic congestion and delay. Technology-integrated mobile travel tools ensure people navigate in the foreign environment more easily. That can significantly improve the quality of travel and, therefore, optimize the pleasure of travel. Travel and tourism is a peace industry, where cultural exchange and understanding foster friendships beyond geographical and cultural boundaries. It is not a typical trade or commerce where buyers want to pay less and sellers try to get more. Rather, tourism takes place on a parity basis. When we visit a country, we are not only spenders contributing to the local economy. The traveling experience offers a face-toface interface on which we interact with the service providers from the host countries, whether they are locals arranging our whole trip or personnel explaining to us in museums. As tourists, we are the ambassadors for China, explaining to them our traditions and culture. In other words, we learn their culture and share our own. Tourists are on both the receiving end and the giving end.” Pansy Ho, chairman of Global Tourism Economy Research Centre, vice-chairman and secretary-general of the Global Tourism Economy Forum
The merger between the Ministry of Culture and the National Tourism Administration into a Ministry of Culture and Tourism in March signals a brand new look for the Chinese tourism industry. The tourism and culture sectors go hand in hand, and the development of Chinese tourism will rely on the coordination of both sectors.” Wang Ping, chairman of the China Chamber of Tourism and vice-chairman of GTEF
To attract foreigners to our region, we organize outdoor sports activities throughout the year. We find they are captivated by trail running in bushes and mountains that abound in Yunnan province. ” Li Xiaomei, chairman and general manager of Yunnan Mekong Tourism Co Ltd, which has been engaged in the tourism and eco-tourism sectors for more than two decades
The establishment of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism delivers three messages — we are committed to raising the bar and improving the overall standards in the industry, expanding our tourism market further abroad and figuring out how to simplify visa application procedures (for the benefit of Chinese travelers). Liu Ting, chairwoman of the China Women’s Chamber of Commerce