The time to sell China is now

Source: Tourism Update, 21/12/2015

The time to sell South Africa as a tourism destination in China is now
The awareness around SA would be especially high following Chinese
President Xi Jinping`s signing of trade agreements worth R94bn with
SA, generating positive coverage about the country among Chinese
consumers, said Bradley Brouwer, President: Asia Pacific, SA Tourism,
at a trade seminar on Asian markets.


China holds huge luxury market potential, with 7 500 billionaires and
the proportion of high-end consumption groups among its outbound
tourists having risen sharply. When choosing a destination, they
consider brand reputation, location, transportation, service, star
rating, views, room size, facilities, catering and price. "The Chinese
are big spenders; they prefer original luxury articles and have the
money to pay for them," said Brouwer.


Brouwer ascribed the Chinese outbound tourism market`s fast
development to its currency`s continuous appreciation, the stable and
continuous increase of Chinese people`s income and a favourable
political environment for travel. In 2014, 107m Chinese tourists
undertook outbound trips – a 9% rise from the previous year.


The stipulation that tourists from countries that require visas for SA
would no longer need to carry children`s unabridged birth certificates
would also increase Chinese travel to SA, said Brouwer, adding that
the certificate would be submitted during the visa application.


"We need to make it easy for Chinese to come to SA. They have so much
choice – in terms of destinations and prices – and many other
destinations offer more flexible visa policies." Brouwer said the visa
regulations had created an unfavourable, unfriendly perception of SA
to Asian consumers and trade – also in Japan where people are
extremely private and don`t like to relinquish personal
information.

"The launch of two additional visa centres in
Chengdu and Guangzhou will help improve arrivals from China, but it`s
still not enough. We have four visa facilitation centres in China, but
need at least another seven to cover the country adequately." He urged
the trade to reflect the latest visa information on their
websites.


Seventy percent of Chinese tourists gather their information from the
Internet (including online travel articles and communities) and plan
their itineraries before they travel, while three-quarters choose
travel operators. Spending their money largely on transportation and
shopping, they set aside summer (July and August) and public holidays
for long-haul travel. Fifty-five percent travel between four and seven
days, and 35.7% between eight and 14 days.