Furious London tourism bosses today demanded the immediate scrapping of all “colonial bureaucracy” putting off big-spending Chinese visitors after France unveiled a fast-track 48-hour visa processing system.

France has promised to implement 48-hour visa processing that will start this month and be available to Chinese.  The fast track visa system that Britain offers in China is due to start working this summer and will be available for a higher price, and through select travel agencies on a pilot basis. Business leaders in Britain feel that the changes in visa do not go far enough to attract Chinese visitors.

“The Mayor would urge the Government to consider all possible measures in order to ensure London is in the best possible position to continue to compete with our European rivals.”

There is an inherent contradiction between the priorities of the tourism industry and VisitBritain, and those of the Home office and the Immigration service. These contradictions do lead to suggestions that Britain is a difficult place to visit, when perceived by travel agents or consumers in China. When juxtaposed against the ability to visit many European countries on a single visa, Britain’s stance is difficult to justify. While further visa relaxation is needed, communicating what has already been done and showing the positive trend of easing access is just as important now.

Business Secretary Vince Cable made it clear he believed the Coalition needs to step up the pace of reform. He told the Standard: “Britain is lagging behind France and Germany in attracting Chinese visitors and they usually cite the visa regime as the problem. “There have been some recent improvements but we cannot allow ourselves to trail behind France in what some call the global race.”

Europe has many advantages to Chinese visitors compared to the UK – more famous landmarks, well known fashion and luxury brands, food that is made popular in China, easy cross-border crossings. Britain has its advantages too but in many instances, people’s perception of the visa challenges puts them off making the attempt to even apply.

During a visit to China in autumn, Chancellor George Osborne announced plans for a limited relaxation of the system, including a 24-hour “super-priority” visa service for business leaders, and a pilot scheme to allow Chinese tourists to apply for a UK visa using the Schengen form through “approved” tour operators.

It’s good to show that our policies are being relaxed and we are making efforts to be more inviting. From the Chinese perspective, this seems too slow and too little compared to other countries that either offer a total visa waiver to Chinese now, visa on arrival or expedited visa processing. Recent research from Skyscanner and Hotels.com points to visa application being a major consideration in the destination selection by Chinese travellers.

A Home Office spokewoman said 284,000 visas for Chinese visitors were processed last year, a 40 per cent rise, with an average processing time of seven days. She said: “We already offer a 3-5 day priority service and this year we are introducing a super-priority 24-hour service. We’ve listened to retailers, travel companies and customers.”

It seems that there is growing pressure from the business community and from within the government to improve the relationship with China and become more inviting to Chinese visitors. The changes already announced came about after intense lobbying, which can and should continue so that Britain can reach the level of visitors from China (and other emerging markets) that is truly deserves.

The two holidays together have resulted in a longer than usual time off work and therefore a bonanza for outbound travel. No doubt that the statistics on Chinese travelling abroad this week would be breaking records. A few destinations, sadly, would not be benefitting from this.

It started with one boat from Hong Kong, whose crew were arrested then
released by the Japanese Navy. Then a Japanese boat with politicians started
a tit-for-tat exchange that has evolved to a fiery exchange and real, serious
economic consequences.
Regardless of your opinion on who is right or wrong, where these islands belong
(or better question, who the oil underneath the sea belongs to) and who is better
at Karaoke, the reasons that politicians dragged the entire country into this
argument have more to do with political survival and power plays internally,
both in Japan and in China. Nationalism is always a big and handy card to draw
when the government feels weak. Japan’s governments have been weak for
many years now, but China’s government this year displayed weakness too.
Many scandals have emerged and China’s people have become more vocal about
expressing their unhappiness with corruption, food safety, rising cost of living
etc.

So what better to distract everyone than a fight with the Japanese, the always
reliable ‘villains’ of the narrative?

The irony is that when it comes to tourism and other retail businesses, the
people suffering from a boycott of Japanese goods and services are also Chinese.
Both sides have cancelled tours and the traditionally full capacity groups to
Japan over the National Day holiday from 1 October have all been cancelled.
Airlines reduced their flights and customers have been offered tours to South
Korea instead. All this is causing consternation in the industry and big economic
losses.

The precarious nature of the Chinese outbound tourism sector is something
that is important to understand. Before Japan, other countries have experienced
similar boycotts. The Philippines saw a drastic drop in the number of Chinese
arrivals when it got into a dispute over islands. The recent PATA Travel Mart
in Manila was notable for the absence of Chinese members. Norway became an
undesirable destination after the Nobel Prize Committee awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize to Liu Xiao Bo. Even France saw a glut in tourism arrivals following
the Paris Mayor meeting with the Dalai Lama.

There is no prescription for this. In China economics and politics are always
interwoven and anyone that does business there must be aware and be
vigilant. As an observer of the industry since 1998 I at least find comfort in
the knowledge that the long term trend is for more people from China to
travel abroad, get to know other cultures and make friends in other countries.
International travel can build bridges that over time, may lessen the ability of
governments or media to influence the masses to such a degree.