Take A Leaf Of China

Capital View

Rabindra Seth

The strides made by China in tourism are on par with the phenomenal advances made by the country in other fields. According to projections made by WTO (World Tourism Organisation) our northern neighbour will be hosting 130 million foreign visitors by 2020 overtaking France as the world's numero uno destination. In 2003, China had welcomed 37 million tourists as per WTO's figures although the country's own statistics claim a much higher number. Again, going by WTO forecasts China's outbound market would have reached 100 million.

Countries seeking a share of this huge Chinese outbound potential can learn a lot from The China Outbound Travel Handbook. Co-authored by two experts, Hu Huaming, an outboard specialist who now runs DPS CHINA (Destination Promotion System) and Roy Graff, formerly e-commerce director of Gullivers Travel Associates and now heads Contact, a London based outfit that provides Consultancy and training services to those interested in the Chinese market.

The Handbook tells you "exactly who is travelling abroad, how to reach them, how the travel industry is organised, and how to show your hospitality to the Chinese Visitors".

The emphasis of the Chinese government, the Handbook points out, is clearly on developing inbound and domestic travel; for outbound it has adopted a mechanism of "sustainable gradual development of this sector". Until the 90s when the policy of approved destinations' for leisure travel was introduced only business travellers or government officials were allowed to depart.

India, it will be recalled was included in the approved destination list only two or three years ago. Interestingly, UK was included in this category only recently and the agreement has just come into force in July this year. The number of countries that are now approved destinations is a little over 90 but only 63 are operational.

But, in spite of the controlled outbound holiday travel, large numbers of Chinese are visiting the rest of the world. WTO's outbound forecast is based on the assumption that at least 150 million Chinese now have the means to travel abroad. And a 12.5 per cent growth will enable 100 million citizens to take a holiday overseas by 2020. Already, in 2004 according to the Handbook, the number of Chinese going abroad had touched 28 million which was an increase of 43 per cent over 2003.

The break up of the outbound count reveals an interesting scene often overlooked by travel journalists. Of the 28 million, as many as 20.5 million go to Hong Kong and Macao. China officially considers Hong Kong and Macao as foreign destinations because of their status as specially administered regions! (In the same way, the China inbound figure also has a large element of travellers from the two destinations). Small wonder that Hong Kong and Macao occupy the first two places in the list of top ten destinations for mainland visitors. Japan is at the third place with 1.02 million. Russia comes fourth with 809,000 and Vietnam is fifth with 785,000. South Korea (690,000) and Thailand (680,000) come next. USA, the only western nation among the top ten, is at the 8th place with 443,000. Singapore (420,000) and Malaysia (330,000) bring up the rear.

The Handbook also explains the discrepancy in the listing of the top ten separately by Chinese customs and the national tourism authority. Australia, which used to figure among the top ten does not do so any more. This is because there are a large number of direct flights to Australia from Hong Kong as their destination. Similarly, there are no firm figures available for Chinese outbound to Europe. According to one estimate as many as 600,000 went to Sohengen member countries alone.

But figures available with Chinese customs and other sources vary vastly. For instance, the customs say 220,000 went to Germany while other sources put the figure at 650,000. There is also some confusion about visitors and those who stayed overnight. A senior Chinese tourism functionary who attended the World Travel & Tourism Council's summit in Delhi in April last had told newspersons that 90 per cent of all visitors to China were business travellers. The Handbook says that 50 per cent of Chinese who go abroad represent the corporate world.

Among the tips for servicing Chinese guests is one for meal times - 7 a.m. for breakfast; 11.30 - 12.00 for lunch and around 6 pm for dinner. In the air, Chinese speaking cabin staff is a must as there may be many who are travelling first time. It would be a great help if local maps translated to Chinese are available to encourage tourists to venture out on their own.

The Handbook has much more for planners, tour operators and hoteliers to prepare for the 100 million Chinese expected in 2020.

(The author is a freelance columnist and can be contacted at rabseth@yahoo.com)