With several destinations experiencing a new wave of COVID-19 infections, adapting to Chinese preferences, social media channels and engaging the Chinese tour operators to stimulate the international travel demand among the Chinese tourists, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
The company’s latest report, ‘Tourism Source Market Insight: China’, reveals that China’s international departures declined by 52.5 per cent in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
GlobalData’s COVID-19 Recovery surveys (*June 2020 and December 2020) found that demand for international travel among Chinese respondents was lower in December 2020 compared to June 2020.
The surveys suggested that 59 per cent of Chinese respondents declared they would ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly disagree’ with the statement ‘I will consider booking an international trip this year’ in December compared to 54 per cent in June.
“COVID-19 and fears of xenophobia are both threatening the prospects of international departures from China," says Johanna Bonhill-Smith, travel and tourism analyst at GlobalData.
"Additional steps are critical to interact with Chinese citizens to help spark international travel demand when travel is more easily accessible.
“Adapting to Chinese offerings such as hosting a website with Chinese language preferences or selling local tours and excursions in Mandarin can all add to the quality of a Chinese tourist’s experience. A destination that makes Chinese tourists feel welcome may be the first to see an increase in post-pandemic travel.
“Digital engagement across all verticals such as promotion, payment, advice and general experiences have always been desirable factors for Chinese tourists but for post-pandemic travel, this will grow in importance," says Johanna.
"China’s prime social media channels differ from the Western world with apps such as WeChat, Weibo and Douyin that are heavily used. Accepting payments from WeChat or Alipay for example can benefit across the travel and tourism supply chain – from a company and destination perspective.”
Partnerships with Chinese tour operators is another route that can be taken. There is a strong desire for familiar and trustworthy products amongst Chinese travelers. Local operators will typically have first-hand experience in promoting to Chinese individuals and therefore, have greater leverage when servicing this market. Trip.Com Group for example dominates the OTA market across China and has repeatedly formed partnerships with companies worldwide.
“Even though 85 per cent of its international departures are focused on destinations across the Asia-Pacific region, China regularly features in the top 10 international arrivals for destinations across the Middle East and Europe," says Johanna.
"It is the largest and most lucrative source market globally, so engagement is now critical to battle any anti-Chinese/racism fears and stimulate future travel demand of the Chinese tourists.”
