ChinaContact Weekly Newsletter 20th January 2014

ChinaContact

Weekly Newsletter

20th January, 2014

Greetings!

Last week France made the front news by announcing it would set up a fast-track visa scheme for Chinese visitors as part of the celebration marking the 50th anniversary of its diplomatic ties with China. This move was the occasion for business groups in The UK to bring back the debate on the fact that Chinese visitors travelling to Europe have to apply for a separate British visa to enter Britain when a Schengen one allows them to visit 26 European countries.

As for the coming week, on the 22nd, Roy Graff, MD of ChinaContact and Founding Director of China Edge will be a guest panelist speaking about China’s luxury tourism sector at the Hurum Report Conference: Next Stop London for Chinese HNWI hosted by the Bank of China.

Last Week’s Headlines

in the Tourism Sector

Top Stories of the Week :

The China Luxury Downturn Is Real – Global Luxury Brands Must Adjust

Call to axe ‘colonial’ visa rules as French woo Chinese

Roy Graff, ChinaContact Managing Director, an expert in Chinese luxury travel and hospitality points out in this article that :

“brands must better manage a global inventory and sales system that understands how Chinese approach luxury purchasing. The Chinese customer is now global. The sooner those companies understand this the better. In most cases, China is a separate profit center, competing with other regions for the same customer. Thus, they do not share data across national borders.”

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said he expected that the new regime, being introduced on January 27, would “massively increase” the number of Chinese tourists visiting Paris and the rest of his country.

In London, business leaders and politicians warned the aggressive move could dramatically strengthen Paris’s hand in the “handbag war” between the French and British capitals, as they battle to attract the world’s highest spending tourists.

China outbound Tourism:

Chinese tourists plan to travel and spend more in 2014: A survey of more than 3,000 respondents from more than 30 Chinese cities conducted by online travel site Ctrip took a comprehensive look at travelers’ plans for 2014…

PolyU study finds Chinese outbound tourism policy a form of diplomacy: By exerting control and influence over the development of outbound tourism, the Chinese government inextricably links tourist flows to its political agenda.High quality global journalism requires investment…

UK visa rules deter Chinese shoppers: Chinese shoppers are responsible for a third of the world’s luxury sales, and many enjoy treating themselves when travelling abroad. But the British luxury industry is missing out – and the UK government is waking up to the problem…

How Pop Culture Influences Chinese Travelers: Where are Chinese tourists going to next? Pop culture may hold some clues, from blockbuster rom-com “Finding Mr. Right” to U.S. sitcom “The Big Bang Theory.”…

Travel destinations for China Tourism :

Chinese visitors to France to get fast-track visas: Chinese visitors’ travel requests will be processed within 48 hours, according to the new visa regime due to come into force on January 27…

Visit York wants more Chinese tourists to come to the city: Visit York has embarked upon a new drive to boost bookings from Chinese tour operators by producing a dedicated sightseeing and shopping guide specifically for this burgeoning eastern audience…

Poland attracts Chinese tourists with EU-funded campaign : With just 35,000 Chinese visiting Poland in 2012 efforts are now being made to increase the number of visitors…

Sharp drop in number of Chinese tourists visiting Australia: The country has fallen from top destination to seventh, with suggestions that it might be part of a long-term downward trend…

Taiwan to raise independent Chinese tourist quota: Taiwan plans to increase the daily quota of independent Chinese tourists to Taiwan to 4,000…

China Luxury Tourism :

The luxurious spending habits of overseas Chinese students: While abroad, many of the students act as fashion advisors and personal shoppers for those back home. Some retailers have already begun to appreciate this special group of customers…

Luxury gifting by China’ wealthy plummets 25 %: When it comes to luxury spending, China’s affluent are clearly scaling back: not only was gift spending down 25%, but overall spending was down 15%, according to a Hurun survey…

Where rich Chinese are traveling in 2014: Japan has emerged as the most desired destination for China’s wealthy travelers this year, according to a recent report by Travelzoo Asia-Pacific…

———————————–

If you have China related stories or questions to contribute, send them to us by email [email protected].

Make sure to get in touch if you are attending any of the industry events where I will be speaking or attending, as it is always good to have a face to face introduction or catch up. List of upcoming events is below.

Sincerely, Roy and the ChinaContact Team

What is ChinaContact?

Pioneering China market entry specialist for the Luxury Tourism and Retail sectors.

Working with destinations, operators, brands, hospitality providers, media and events.

chinacontact.org

ILTM 2014 representation

Ahead of ILTM (International Luxury Travel Market) Asia 2014 in Shanghai, ChinaContact is happy to offer all-inclusive packages to help your business make the most of this event and enter China’s luxury tourism market in style.

Learn more about our packages here

For inquiries contact:

[email protected]

About China Edge

China Edge delivers strategy,

training, social media marketing and consumer engagement in the UK for luxury retail and hospitality.

Visit China Edge

Follow China Edge on Twitter

China-Ready

Certification Programme

The China-Ready Programme from the China Edge Academy consists of 4 half-day workshops on March 10-13, 2014 at the prestigious May Fair Hotel in London

This modular training provides luxury brands with the knowledge and tools to Plan, Engage and Deliver tailored services to the global Chinese consumer.

Read more and register for the workshop

China Edge

Cultural Training

This workshop will take place on February 12th at the May Fair Hotel in London.

It aims to enhance your understanding of nuanced cultural and behavioural differences that affect consumer habits and your sales. Learning to be sensitive to these cultural differences and finding out more about your customers leads to higher loyalty, retention, referrals and profits.

Read more and register for the workshop

China Kick-Start Programme

China Edge launched a modular programme that overcomes the difficult challenge of understanding Chinese consumer behaviour, digital marketing, culture and language by providing a complete toolkit with accompanying hands on guidance from start to finish.

Read more

Plan-Ahead

China Focused or Related Events

-2014 Guangzhou International Travel Fair, GITF, 27 February – 3 March. China Import and Export Fair Pazhou Complex, Guangzhou.

- 2014 ITB Berlin 5 to 9 March . The Messe Berlin, Berlin.

- 2014 China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market, COTTM : 9-11 April. National Agricultural Exhibition Center, Beijing.

- 2014 World Travel Fair, WTF, 9-11 May. Shanghai Exhibition Center (SEC), Shanghai.

- 2014 International Luxury Travel Market Asia, ILTM Asia : 2-5 June, Shanghai.

- 2014 World Travel Market, WTM: 3-6 November. ExCeL, London.

Follow all the China related trade events by

subscribing to our events calendar

Catch Up With Our Archives

Archived Weekly China tourism updates

ChinaContact | +44-20-81239528 | [email protected] |http://chinacontact.org

Receive free China tourism news

Contact Us

Upcoming Events

ILTM-Asia (International Luxury Travel Market)

From our Blog