West, young people
Outbound travel even surpassed the most positive predictions of a decade ago, as Chinese tourists traveled farthest, with travel shackles in their hearts and wallets in their pockets.
"The clever thing is that a person should read 10,000 books and drive 10,000 miles." Li Bai [Poet of the Tang Dynasty]
"After listening to a lot of beauty about European TV and magazines, we spent three years there in June this year. The quality of the food is very poor, the people we met seem a bit cold in this part of the city, we don't feel Too safe. "Mr. Liu Feng of Shanghai, first went to Europe in 2005.
This reaction to Europe is not uncommon for Chinese tourists who use low-cost, high-standard hotel accommodation, clean and modern transportation systems and very low crime rates in their own countries.
A few years ago, the number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad was so small that their opinions and experience were not considered too much by the European industry.
However, these numbers are now beginning to look impressive, and early promoters of European tourism are struggling to find out what steps can be taken to improve Mr. Liu and other experiences like him.
China is now the fastest-growing market for tourism in Europe. In the right way, hotels, B&Bs, shops and attractions across Europe will make huge profits from this new open market.
Market
Last year, about 31 million Chinese traveled overseas. They mainly visited other Asian destinations such as Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and South Korea, but there are still 2 million Chinese who travel to Europe, and this number will increase year by year. By 2020, Europe can attract 13 million Chinese tourists every year.
In China's so-called "Golden Week", tourism is particularly fashionable. - February, May and October China's work week is now limited to five days, with a minimum annual leave of 14 days, extending the holiday time.
In 2005, travel guide publisher Lonely Planet announced that they would begin publishing some versions of books in Chinese to cope with the growing number of Chinese tourists. The three fates of the Chinese version of the travel book are the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.
However, it is not always easy. When it comes to Chinese perceptions of Europe and its people, the European public shutdown is fighting some unfortunate stereotypes. "London is foggy, Paris is expensive, Rome is dirty, and Madrid is dangerous." - These are not only the opinions of those who have not yet visited, but also the opinions expressed in a series of consumer focus groups we have conducted recently.
travel agency
The overall situation of China's tourism industry is driven by rising income levels, relaxed travel restrictions and the provision of more holidays. Only a certain number of licensed travel agencies are eligible to operate international outbound travel services. In 1997, there were only 67 outbound travel agencies in China; by 2004, this number had risen to 528. In recent years, the former state-owned institutions Privatization and restructuring have begun.
However, the agency market is still fragmented and there are few domestic players. It is still dominated by state-owned institutions, and many institutions are outdated in their service. The Chinese government is encouraging private and foreign capital to flow into the industry, but many of the travel provided by existing institutions lacks imagination in terms of content and style, but the reality is that the industry still has a long way to go before it actually serves. Customer demand.
At present, 90% of Chinese travel abroad is carried out in group travel, and travel agencies usually receive about 5-20% commission on the travel retail price.
Independent travel is often unpopular, and a key explanation for this is language. The Chinese education system emphasizes the reading and writing of foreign languages, even those with good English and poor communication skills. For most Chinese, communicating in another language is not an option at all. Given that European tourism literature and road and airport signs have not yet been produced in Chinese, these countries are more closed to ordinary tourists.
Passport and paperwork
Traditionally, Chinese citizens have not been allowed to travel freely, and no passport can do so. This has changed dramatically in the past three years.
After several rounds of negotiations, China has signed a "destination approved license". [ADS] has signed agreements with more than 100 partners including some European countries. ADS simplifies the exit process for Chinese tourists, allowing them to travel on a regular passport and apply for a tourist visa.
Without ADS, Chinese residents can only use their visas to go to business, study or visit relatives. For ADS, Chinese passport holders with financial resources have no restrictions on foreign travel, provided they have access to the individual visa required to enter their country. The only restriction is that travel must be part of an official tour group, and the group must have an accompanying person at all times overseas.
For European countries, ADS means that countries can legally promote group leisure travel through distribution and sales channels with wholesalers and travel agencies, and promote destinations and their products to Chinese consumers. *
History:
For the first time in 1983, mainland Chinese allowed private companies to visit Hong Kong and Macau.
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In 2003, Chinese citizens have the right to apply for a private passport using a residence permit to provide international travel options for the masses.
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2004 Germany became the first EU country to welcome Chinese tourists
Facts:
· Once a passport is obtained, Chinese citizens can apply for a visa anywhere
· For ADS countries, they can apply for a tourist visa. For non-ADS countries, they must specifically obtain business or visas for visiting relatives and friends. [For the Schengen countries, a visa allows access to all countries belonging to the Schengen Agreement]
• Although free travel is allowed in the destination country after obtaining a visa, it is standard practice for the tour guide to hold the passports of all group members if traveling within the tour group.
· China's travel agencies "lost" their group members in Europe were quickly blacklisted by visas issued by Chinese embassies and consulates. The number of permanent or temporarily blacklisted ADS-approved travel agencies is steadily increasing.
Shopping
Shopping companies are another way for European companies to benefit from China's growing wealth and new freedom of travel. Although the number of tourists may not be high, the level of consumption of Chinese tourists arriving in Europe is.
Traveling to Europe is often the first time a Chinese travels abroad, and their consumption patterns may be unreasonable. Some people just buy what they can't buy in China. The consumption of Chinese tourists often does not reflect the level of income, but it may be misleading to look at the household income of the Chinese population and even the disposable income level. Many people spend far more than we predicted.
According to statistics from the French tourism department, French tourists from China spend an average of $3,000 each time. In contrast, the average consumption of visitors in North America and Europe is only $1,000.
Challenge
China clearly has great potential, but for many European operators it is proving to be a tough market.
One irony of European tourism is that if consumers are Europeans, it is strictly regulated; but if customers buy products outside the EU, there are few regulations that apply.
One factor that helps drive down prices is competition from creative Chinese operators in Europe. These agents are willing to use an informal network of business contacts that can bypass many of the normal requirements of group travel. It is difficult for a mature tour operator to compete with Chinese urban institutions that provide minibuses driven by local waiters until the demand for Chinese tourists is more, and this may not change. The good news is that we think Chinese tourists will ask for more soon.
Other challenges:
- short booking
- Continuously changing programs
- Unfair competition from small cash payment agents
- Lack of understanding of long-distance travel control in terms of driving time from Chinese agents [hopefully the new EU driving regulations will provide a fair competitive environment for all operators to implement a reasonable itinerary.]
- Chinese sales staff lacks understanding of Europe
- Different habits and tastes of Chinese tourists [hotels and restaurants behave differently than European expectations]
- Chinese travel agencies lack an understanding of European law.
Orignal From: Chinese outbound tourists
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