The majority of Chinese outbound travelers are eager to start going abroad again as soon as it appears to be safe and borders are reopened. Their demands and expectations however have changed during the pandemic. They are more open to visit new destinations and more interested in nature and smaller cities than before, as well as in travelling in small groups of family members or friends.
ADVANTAGE: TOURISM is the name of the program Turespaňa is using. It has been developed by the experts of the COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute and a number of partner organisations. The sustainable approach for the Chinese market is based on trainings for the knowledge transfer about the specific interests of different market segments and accordingly the development of bespoke offers. Higher quality leads to higher satisfaction, resulting in recommendations of the visitors to their peers back home. In this way money saved on marketing can be used for the education and empowerment of the Spanish tourism service providers and can attract affluent Chinese visitors to other parts of the country outside of the traditional main season.
Spain attracted almost 700,000 Chinese in 2019, but most of them visited only Barcelona and Madrid, adding to the problem of overtourism, while ignoring the many other attractive regions and cities. The new curiosity of many Chinese to get closer to the local nature and culture, including gastronomy, is supported with the tools of ADVANTAGE: TOURISM to benefit the Spanish tourism industry and to develop a successful long-term engagement with the Chinese market.
“Chinese travelers do not fly all the way to Europe to go to the beach and most of them do not even come for the sunshine. Provided with the right offers and interesting stories, they will not only add to the number of visitors to Spain, but will bring benefits to new regions” says Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, CEO of COTRI.
Other national and regional tourism authorities are currently considering to join the ADVANTAGE: TOURISM program. Now is the right time to prepare for the future wave of Chinese outbound travellers, as many destinations will compete for them and the old way of travelling in big groups for sightseeing and shopping is getting out of fashion in China.
Learning the secrets of Sherry in Jerez or visiting the roots of the art of Flamenco in Sevilla, finding inner peace on the Camino de Santiago, or sampling fine dining in San Sebastian, Spain has more than the crowded Ramblas in Barcelona and mediocre Chinese food in Madrid to offer.
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