China’s rate of growth as a travel destination may have flattened out since the boom of the Beijing Olympics, but it is still an attractive holiday spot for the increasing numbers of baby boomers, experienced travellers with time on their hands and those with a high disposable income.
That has put tour operators under pressure to offer a greater variety of trips to China that cater for a wider audience, as well as include something different, whether visiting pandas in Sichuan, shopping in Kashgar’s Sunday market, or taking a Chinese cookery course.
Collette Worldwide general manager Peter Traynor says: “China is a difficult country to explore independently, language being the obvious barrier. This makes it a good destination to sell as an escorted tour, and the more inclusions the better.”
The recession has put the emphasis on value-for-money tours. Premier Holidays coach itineraries are outselling private ones, while On The Go Tours has experienced significant growth in its group itineraries, and a demand for family-friendly holidays. Demand for all-inclusives is also rising.
Wendy Wu Tours managing director Manuel Mascarenhas says: “A fully inclusive product has great appeal in a recessionary environment. We even include the cost of processing the visa.”
China’s popularity has inspired Funway Holidays to feature it as a new destination this year with a selection of city stays in Beijing, Guilin, Kunming, Shanghai and Xian, as well as beach holidays in Sanya on the island of Hainan, while Virgin Holidays is adding the Westin Bund in Shanghai to its 2010 brochure.
It’s not just the Olympics that have spurred demand, but the recent solar eclipse – now tour operators are looking to the Shanghai Expo, which has an even bigger budget than the Beijing games. Between May and October next year, China’s business hub will be transformed into a centre for exhibitions, events and forums.
“The positive media coverage created by these events, showing the rich culture of one of the world’s fastest growing economies, is definitely having an impact,”
says Mascarenhas.
Agents’ biggest challenge is to create ongoing awareness and interest in China, and convince those that have already visited that there is more to see in this vast country, which quite literally offers the diversity of the European Continent. New escorted group concepts and special interest holidays are just some of the ways operators are achieving this.
Cosmos Tourama long-haul product manager Gosia Toogood says: “Although we continually change itineraries to offer tours with multi-centre, shorter durations, and greater flexibility, we still find that our classic itineraries are the best sellers.”
The other test for some operators is to demonstrate value for first-time visitors to Asia, since budget China tours can be more expensive than those in other destinations in the area such as Malaysia and Thailand. Hayes and Jarvis China product manager Istvan Csanalosi says: “The sights to be seen on a China tour are some of the most dramatic and compelling in the world, and this is the message that needs to be pushed.”
But most product is bought in dollars, and sterling’s weakness this year has pushed up costs. This message needs to be explained to customers that it is not due to tour operators slapping on extra margins.
Csanalosi says: “Fortunately our suppliers in China do realise the consequences of the exchange rate changes, so they are trying to help out with rate reductions. The main impact of this is being felt at the higher end of the market and explains the drop in five-star tours. There has been less of an impact on popular, budget itineraries.”
