Europe is experiencing a decline in its share of visitors from emerging economies.
The WTM session on Powerhouse Economies yesterday heard the proportion of outbound travellers from China who chose Europe as a destination fell from 20% of those travelling beyond Hong Kong and Macau in 2003 to 12.9% in 2010.
Europe makes up a third of all outbound trips for Brazilian travellers, but this proportion is also shrinking thanks to competition from domestic and short-haul destinations in South America.
Hans Dominicus, marketing manager for Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board, who presented the research on China, said there are 400,000 Chinese students at universities across Europe, bringing in visiting friends and relatives business and promoting future travel. However, Europe is at risk of losing this market thanks to aggressive efforts to attract students by Australian institutions. “This is a long-term investment beyond just travel,” he said.
Tom Jenkins, executive director of the European Tour Operators’ Association, said: “Europe is losing market share in most markets.
“The first thing is that it’s facing competition for the first time, and the second is that Europe is uniquely regulated and uniquely taxed as a destination from the origin markets.
“The core market that we’re selling to in Brazil is the burgeoning middle class, and they are also middle-aged and they need to have things in Portuguese. If we want to attract these people, then we have to treat them as customers.”
China’s neighbour Russia is currently the top destination for Chinese arrivals, followed by France and Germany, with the UK ranked eighth. Spending on international tourism rose 32% in China between 2010 and 2011, with the number of outbound trips increasing by 22.5% in the same period, although for every international holiday taken, there were 40 trips within mainland China.