This is an an interview with Rupert Hoogewerf, who will give a talk at ILTM called "The Chinese Traveller" on Monday 2 June 15:00 - 16:30. From the definition of ‘luxury travel’ both worldwide & in China, to the preferred destinations of the Chinese and the growth of the Chinese economy, Rupert Hoogewerf gives us an insight on what participants can expect from the upcoming session, providing information from the findings of his research conducted in conjunction with ILTM.
Tell us more about your session at ILTM Asia; ‘The Chinese Luxury Traveller’? The past five years has seen an explosion in the growth of Chinese luxury travellers. This session is designed to flag up the potential of the market, and look in more detail at their spending habits, travel habits and change in lifestyle.
What inspired the session? The Chinese luxury traveller has become the hottest topic of the global luxury travel sector, so this session is positioned to help participants have a deeper understanding of the trends from within China.
What are the most important trends you noticed 2013 / 2014 The Chinese luxury traveller is much more sophisticated than three years ago. They have been to the Eiffel Tower, Buckingham Palace and the Statue of Liberty. Now they are looking for more experiential travel. With the surge in social media, there is also a distinct trend to ‘outdo’ their friends and show them pictures of things nobody has seen or done.
What can participants expect from the session?A deeper understanding on the size of the market, ie the number of people in China with the means to afford luxury travel, their spending, lifestyle and travel trends. For hoteliers and buyers targeting the Chinese outbound traveller, they can expect to take away an update on how to stay relevant to the Chinese luxury traveller in 2014, and have a better understanding what messages they should be communicating to this group.
Which destinations do Chinese luxury travellers prefer?Over the past ten years, Australia, the US and France have been the ‘big ones’.
Do you have any related statistics about Chinese luxury travel to share with us?During the session, I will be releasing Hurun Report’s latest data on the size of the market, ie the number of people in China with the means to afford luxury travel, their spending, lifestyle and travel trends.
What defines ‘luxury travel’ - worldwide and in the Chinese world specifically? Is this definition expected to change anytime soon?
Previously, travel was dominated by business travel and there was little room for FIT. In the past five years, the FIT has expanded considerably and created a more justifiable ‘luxury traveller’, who is willing to pay for hotel suites, business and first class flights and not just spend the money on shopping.
After a decade of healthy growth we are starting to hear reports of this slowing, are China’s growth predictions realistic and sustainable? Whilst there has unquestionably been a slowdown in the Chinese economy in the past year, there is still a vast hinterland that is looking to better themselves and go travelling. An indicator is the fast-growing number of trips being made within China during the public holidays.
Website: http://www.iltm.com/asia/
No comments:
Post a Comment