“I fully expect that double-digit growth in the outbound Chinese tourism market will continue for at least the next five years. That might not be an obvious conclusion if you follow the economic story of China recently.

Economic growth as an indicator can be misleading as a indicator for several reasons. Overall, China’s economy is headed towards a slow down and reduced demand for goods and services. This is based on a reduction in global demand for goods made in China and a shifting of manufacturing to lower cost countries. There are also the environmental and social impacts of high speed growth that I believe have not been managed so well. We now see strong government reaction to official corruption that has a knock-on effect on retail and tourism. The famous scenes of smog in Beijing, the experience of car jams and food scares, are all significant signs that the economy will be facing severe bottlenecks that will prevent the same rate of growth we have seen in the past 20 years.

This might logically indicate that tourism will also slow down. Indeed, it is because of environmental factors that inbound tourism to China has shrunk. But in reality, the conditions in China seem to be driving those that can afford to, to use travel as a means of recharging and detoxing themselves. The fact remains that so many people are eager to travel abroad and are interested in foreign cultures. The economic growth has given them disposable income to do so now. China was a closed society for many years and has experienced fast-paced and dramatic opening up in the past two decades. The cost of travel is also falling as more air routes are opening up from secondary cities across China. Access to visas to foreign lands is becoming easier, and could be made easier still to entice more Chinese visitors. Information about outbound destinations is at everyone’s fingertips in their own language and localised to their culture and needs. And one thing that people sometimes forget, is that culturally Chinese consumers are living in almost every country on earth and respond to the same messages delivered in the same Chinese language channels. Whether they are Chinese students in London or young professionals employed by multinational companies, they have the propensity to travel the world, the income to do so and a network of friends and relatives in China that see them as destination advisors for their own travel plans.

Consumer education and promotion, trade engagement and direct digital marketing are now the vital tools in exploiting the vast Chinese market potential. Chinese travellers require more information on the range of products available to raise their level of sophistication when making travel choices. Companies who intend to tap into this market must establish an early presence and be willing to adapt and develop their products and services as needed. The level of detail and the amount of questions they have is way above what you will get from American or European tourists and you should anticipate this and offer easy, user-friendly access to the information. With the sheer choice on offer now of destinations and experiences, you are operating in a crowded field.

On a 1-5 year projection, we can expect further segmentation and specialisation in the market as Chinese consumers look for specialists in niche tourism sectors such as sports tourism, adventure and cultural tours. The increased sophistication and expanded range of destinations that Chinese are prepared to explore will give many more suppliers an opportunity to enter the market and profit from it. Provided you focus on brand building, customer service and safety, you can earn the trust of the Chinese consumers.

Improved access to internet distribution will allow more suppliers to directly offer their services to the market, creating the need for distribution and marketing plans via social media channels like Weibo and WeChat, SEM on Baidu and the other search engines, and ecommerce solutions that bypass restrictions on foreign companies selling online in China.

The move away from mass tour groups is happening but will not be the same as with the Japanese market in the 80s and 90s. Those that come from 2nd and 3rd tier cities will still be travelling in groups, as will the pensioners and school groups. For the 25-55 age bracket, small, self organised tours and independent travel will become the norm. There will, for a long time to come, be a need to address the specific needs and expectations of Chinese travellers that are based on their culture and experience of travel within China. Be it the type of breakfast they expect or language requirements and sensitivity to cultural norms and taboos, it is important to learn the basics and continue to keep abreast of the quick paced changes in this market. The book provides the basic background information to culture and etiquette as well, and is a good start. But just like Chinese language, Chinese business is a life long learning process.“

By Roy Graff during the launch of China, the Future of Travel on 21st of April 2015.

“In many ways, the story of Chinese tourism is the story of China. From a 3rd world country with strict control over its people and inward focus, China has become a global power, a political heavy weight and an economic miracle.

My own first encounter with China was 23 years ago, back in 1992 while backpacking in South East Asia. The first stop on that trip was Taiwan. I remember standing on a pedestrian bridge linking the rail station over a busy road and thinking to myself “My God, so many people!!!” Mainland China was even more of a shock. While I did see Chinese traveling around, in the more remote places there were mostly other Western backpackers and hardly any Chinese. Then in 2002, I was sent to China by Gulliver’s Travel Associates, a multinational wholesale tour operators that is now part of Kuoni. The Directors sent me to develop independent travel in China. While the growth I have witnessed in just three years, from 2002 to 2005, was astonishing, this pace has not let up even till now. Despite a slowdown in 2008 and 2009 as the world economic crisis took its toll, the Chinese desire to travel and the spirit of Chinese entrepreneurs ensured a steep upward curve of growth in China’s tourism and hospitality sectors. Even with the economic crisis slowing things down, average annual outbound tourism growth from China stayed an eye watering 19%!

My meetings with travel agents in 2002 involved trying to convince the agencies that the Internet was a useful tool to book travel and that booking hotels and other travel services could be profitable for them. In almost all offices, there was just one Internet connection on the manager’s computer, which was usually locked in the manager’s office. We organized seminars and training sessions to explain the value in online travel booking and encourage travel agents to adopt broadband access for all computers. Fast forward to 2015 and what a change! Constant online chatter through mobile chat apps has been accepted as integral to doing business and China is leading the world in connectivity and use of mobile smart phones. Most Chinese who work in tourism have at least 2 smart phones and provide 24-7 support to their customers.

There is no question that a new generation of Chinese travelers has embraced the Internet for their travel research and booking needs. While the share of travel transactions conducted online is still low compared to Western economies, online travel is growing at twice the pace of all travel. The leading OTAs in China are spending big to attract new customers through building loyalty and focusing on brand recognition.

Within only a few years, Europe has seen a shift in how Chinese travel that is affecting the way in which destinations must market themselves. When Europe joined the ADS agreement in 2003, the Chinese arrived in large, organized group tours that covered 10 or more countries in less than 14 days. Their daily schedule started at 6am and ended late at night, spending most of their

“Looking at the pace of change in Chinese outbound tourism, it is plain to see that the old clichés about Chinese tourists no longer hold true. The most common clichés I hear are: Chinese are just like Japanese; they always travel in big groups and make lots of noise; they only want to eat Chinese food… etc.

But now, the sheer size and complexity of the market means that there is demand for almost any type of travel service, provided that you know just where to look. Chinese who can now buy luxury are educated and well traveled. By definition, those that can afford to travel internationally belong to the elite. Broadly speaking, they would prefer to be treated the same as clients from other countries while still enjoying special amenities and services afforded especially to Chinese customers. This newly updated and very much expanded China Travel Handbook of 2015 that we launch today is intended to help set into context the media hype and excitement across the industry and provide deeper insights about this market to people working in tourism, hospitality and retail sectors. Articles and reports about Chinese tourists can now be found everywhere. Reuters, Yahoo, The Economist, FT, BBC, Sky News have all interviewed me about this topic in the past and published numerous stories about the phenomenon. I’ve first written about the vast potential of the market in 2005 when I returned from 3 years of work in China. I published the China Outbound Travel Handbook 2005 as an industry primer aimed directly at incoming operators and service providers. There were 31 Million outbound trips taken by Chinese then. In the 10 years since, this number has more than tripled.

Since the summer of 2014, I, together with Sienna and with the help of my team, began updating the information and collecting new perspectives of the Chinese outbound tourism market. I contacted my network of professionals and experts from inside China and from around the world to include their unique experience and insights. In addition to the introduction and explanation of how the Chinese tourism sector actually works, the new book contains interviews and case studies from industry insiders that have many years of experience working in, and with the Chinese outbound tourism market. Each brings their own perspective to form a rounded picture of the opportunities and challenges. These include: