”Consumption profile of the Chinese
tourists in Belgium”
Dominique ANDRE- Wang Yan
WBT - New markets
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Chinese tourists
3. Are travel and shopping related?
Introduction
 Who we are
 What we do
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Welcome delegations, famtrips, presstrips
Press
Chinese tour operators based in Europe
Networking
 Awex – Brussels Export
 BCECC
 Chinese Embassy
 Ccpit
Research
 What we can do for you
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Chinese tourists
3. Are travel and shopping related?
The Chinese tourists : why do they travel more?
 Favorable government policies
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Visa restrictions are diminishing
Government encourages people to travel,
More countries sign Destination Status (ADS) agreement with China
Even more…within the next five years China will implement a “National
Tourism Plan”, the start of a “huge acceleration towards becoming a leisure
society”
 The Yuan rises in value
 Fast-emerging middle class with money
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Salary white collars + 14.80 % in 2011 in important towns
Middle class will reach -/+100 million in 2020 (= middle class of US today)
The Chinese tourists : why do they travel more?
 Status
"The importance of outbound travel to increase status back home means that
the decision to travel abroad is not just a personal leisure measure, it is also a
kind of investment in oneself." (Wolfgang Georg Arlt, China Outbound Tourism
Research Institute)
The Chinese tourists : modes of travel
 Chinese agents work with Chinese organizers abroad
 The money is made by the Chinese agents mainly on shopping
commissions
 For group travel, money is not made by the local hotels, tourist
attractions or restaurants, but by Shopping
The Chinese tourists : modes of travel
→ For a destination, that is not top of the mind, it’s important to
focus on :
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Business tourism (delegations, meetings and incentives)
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Individual travellers
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the educated Chinese
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The affluent independent travellers looking for customized
experiences along with the comforts of home.
But, there needs to be some preparation
"The most important thing the hotels need to be thinking about is understanding
and tapping into the cultural differences and ensuring they understand what's
important to Chinese travellers," Gary Rosen, senior VP and head of global
Operations, InterContinental Hotels Group.
The Chinese tourists : new trends
 NTICS
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Social media platforms play an important role in attracting Chinese
Consumers (RenRen, Youku.com, Weibo(twitter)
Internet : 20% of China’s travel market will be web-based and even on sites
displaying luxury goods, you have travel sections.
The Chinese tourists : new trends
Log on to luxury … where China
goes to shop
www.vipstore.com
www.xiu.com
www.shangpin.com
www.vjia.com
www.fclub.cn
The Chinese tourists : Some figures
 Some figures
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On average, China’s 1.3 billion people
each take just 1.3 trips a year. By 2015
the figure is projected to rise to 3.3.
(Reuter’s)
In 2011 more than 64 million Chinese
tourists are expected to travel abroad
its 7 million more than in 2010)(China
Tourism Academy)
By 2015, the government expects 100
million people to travel abroad, making
China the world’s biggest outbound
tourism market.
The US and Russia are the only two
non-Asian destinations in the top 10.
Europe still has a small share
The Chinese tourists : Share of Europe
 In 2010, 2.5 million Chinese travelled to Europe mainly in
Western Europe (France, Italy, Germany and Great Britain), that
accounts for 4 % only.
The Chinese tourists in Belgium
 And Belgium?
Overnight
stays
2008
2009
2010
2011
Belgium
114.587
117.993
122.462
+22 %
Brussels
53.488
51.835
60.364
+33 %
(01-06 )
Source : DGSIE
Source : DGSIE
Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Chinese tourists
3. Are travel and shopping related?
Are travel and shopping related?
 "When we do survey, Chinese say they come to Europe mainly
for sightseeing and they do shopping in Paris because they want
to buy luxury items from the original shop "
Rolf Freitag, founder and CEO of tourism consultancy IPK International
 " Chinese are travelling and buying luxury goods. It's now a
question of how to brand in China "
Jens Thraenhart, president of Dragon Trail
 “The challenge in China is being able to explain to 1.3 billion
people what your brand is about "
GM, Van Cleef & Arpels