Watch this 3 minute interview from 14 August 2012 about British government hopes to treble the number of Chinese visitors. It is worth mentioning that while the person that made the announcement, former Culture Minister Jeremy Hunt has been given a new job in the cabinet reshuffle, the Minister that opposed any relaxation of entry […]
Roy being interviewed about Chinese coming to the UK, on Sky News
Are the Olympics a good thing for tourism from China (and other places)?
A recent (not sure how recent as no date available with the article) check by Global Blue, the Tax Free company, with tour operators in Japan and China brought up the interesting but not entirely unsurprising finding that people are not too interested to come visit the UK in the period leading up to, and […]
When things look bad, find a market that continues to grow and win business there – lessons from China
The reason I am focused on promoting tourism development with China is because I have witnessed first hand the dynamic growth and immense potential of the sector. I have felt the energy of the people working in the sector in China and seen the hunger of Chinese to travel overseas. The pace of growth and expansion has overwhelmed me when I was working there in 2002-2005 and since then, each time I return I can see that the Chinese travel professionals are even more sophisticated and knowledgeable.
What this means is that Western companies and destinations need to get smarter in how they market and sell travel services in China. It used to be the case that simply becoming an approved destination (ADS) was enough to start getting tour groups, and a photo-op with a Chinese government leader got you all the business you needed. This is no longer true. Consumers shop around, research destinations online and share experiences with others that have been on chat rooms and web forums.
7 years of preparation, 4 months of visa restrictions, 2 months of flowing traffic, 17 days of Olympic fever and now the (hangover) handover begins
By now many gigabytes of text had been published online describing the Olympics in Beijing. It was interesting to read so much written about Beijing and China by first time visitors and journalists who are not China specialists but sports writers. Their observations may be superficial but they have no problem to write about what […]