| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 26/06/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 43 |
| Copyright: Other |
Destination focus
China: many tourists combine a tour of the country with a beach holiday in Bali, Phuket or PenangRecovery sees hotels hike rates ‘too soon’
Visitor numbers go up but its early days
HONG Kong and China might not be selling quite as well as other parts of the Far East but the two destinations have both seen a healthy increase in visitor numbers from the UK over the past few months.Hong Kong UK visitor numbers grew by just over 9% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year, while the rest of China saw a 4% increase in the same period.
So confident are Hong Kong hoteliers that business is beginning to return to the British colony that they have begun to push up their rates by introducing shoulder-season prices for the first time since the handover.
But this, say UK operators, could put the brakes on further growth in the near future.
Tradewinds marketing manager Mark Blewitt said: “We feel it is a little too soon for hotels to put up prices, particularly as when you compare Hong Kong with Singapore, which people do, it is still facing stiff competition from Singapore.”
“We believe Hong Kong hoteliers are using the UK as a high-yield market and using China and Taiwan to make up the rest of their business but the UK is still a fragile market.”
Hong Kong is still the most popular gateway to China for UK visitors but operators are seeing an increasing number of clients flying direct to the mainland, skipping Hong Kong altogether.
The launch of Virgin Atlantic’s direct flights from Heathrow to Shanghai last year has made China more accessible and many holidaymakers are now using Shanghai as an alternative gateway to Hong Kong.
Blewitt said many of its clients twinned China with Singapore or Bangkok instead of Hong Kong, or they combined a tour of the country with a beach holiday in Bali, Phuket or Penang.
“We do sell China as a standalone destination but most people want to combine it with somewhere else in the Far East, not necessarily Hong Kong,” he added.
Most operators said that although visitor numbers to China were still small, they have seen an increase in bookings over the past year.
Premier Holidays said its business to China was 10% up on this time last year and its bookings for Beijing had risen some 55%.
This compares to a 27% increase in its business to Hong Kong.
One of the areas for which operators are seeing increased demand is the Yangtze River as many holidaymakers are keen to see the area before it is flooded by a man-made dam in a few years time.
Thomas Cook Holidays has increased capacity for its 17-day Treasures of China tour, which includes a Yangtse river cruise, due to high demand.
Asia product manager Paul Ford said: “Bookings have exceeded all expectations.”
Operators agreed that more advertising is needed by the China National Tourist Office to create a greater awareness of the rest of the the country. In particular they would like to see a national TV advertising campaign.
The CNTO’s UK director Baoxiang Yin said this would depend on his marketing budget, which he is hoping will be increased later this year.
“We are thinking about running a high profile campaign and hopefully we will be given the budget for this but I don’t know when this will be at the moment,” he added.
Shanghai: benefiting from the launch of Virgin’s direct flight from Heathrow