Why are the Chinese not coming? They go where they feel welcome
Thursday, 10 Jul, 2009
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The summer is here. But tourism does not seem to be picking up as it should. Blame Swine flu? Recession? twitter? Michael Jackson?
What I do know is that Chinese people continue to want to travel abroad and will find ways and means of doing so, no matter how many obstacles their government or our governments put in their way. The most obvious challenge to rising numbers of Chinese visitors to Europe or the US is the difficulty in obtaining a leisure travel visa.
Even when countries sign the ADS agreement, it only applies to group package tours. Anyone who knows a bit about modern China knows that wealthy people in the big cities now do not want to travel like cattle in mass market tour groups.
It was already 2.5 years ago that experts at the ChinaContact forum on China’s tourism industry at World Travel Market concluded that Europe (and North America) should focus its attention and marketing budget on the luxury travel segment from China.
This recommendation does not mean only promoting expensive products and services. It means marketing to the right consumers in the right tone and making the experience attractive and easy to access.
So far most destinations are found seriously lacking in this department. Their main shortcoming is not realising how quickly China is being transformed socially and economically. It’s important to differentiate between the political views and statements of the government and the everyday life and aspirations of the emerging middle and upper classes of Chinese society.
I am heartened to see that some destinations are already beginning to understand this and are shifting their policies accordingly. Japan, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea have begun to either offer an individual leisure visa or waive visa requirements altogether. They receive a million or more Chinese visitors each year.
Recently Australia and South Africa have said they are looking at offering individual visas to Chinese from the major cities. This kind of positive development needs to happen in Europe and North America as soon as possible and it is up to the industry to lobby and pressure the government to see the light.
Instead, we see new restrictions that aim to further alienate new visitors.
The UK government has announced a review of visa policies and are considering whether joining or partnering with the Schengen Visa agreement will work.
But now we have a new Home Office Minister and their priorities may be different. When I spoke to the Minister for Tourism at the British Travel Trade Fair she was not at all aware of the difficulties Chinese face in trying to visit or the dramatic drop in visits from China to the UK.
I am not confident that the Schengen Visa approach is the right one since currently only the UK among European countries is demanding biometric data at origin. The complicated visa procedure (with forms only available in English) requires the applicant to visit the visa processing centre in person. This can be an additional inter-city trip, the cost of which (and the visa application fee) is non-refundable if application is ultimately unsuccessful.
We should remember that visa policies and the behaviour of consular services in China are part of the image of the country and how Chinese first judge us. If we want Chinese to visit us by choice (as opposed to a delegation or business visit) then we need to roll out the welcome mat, not roll up the barricades.
About the author:
Roy Graff has been immersed in Asian business and culture since 1994 and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. He launched ChinaContact in 2005 after working in senior management positions for a global travel group in Shanghai and Beijing for three years. He focuses his consultancy practice on China’s tourism and hospitality sectors with an emphasis on online marketing and e-commerce.
For further information: www.chinacontact.org
skype: ccontact88 http://twitter.com/chinacontact
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