Soon 372 million Chinese tourists in the world? What are the flimsy indications of a outbound Chinese tourism revival saying?
The decline in domestic tourism is exacerbating Chinese tourists' thirst for international travel. China, international destinations and their private partners are implementing actions that can be considered as weak signals of the recovery of Chinese international tourism. Chinese digital players (Tencent, Alibaba) who have maintained a digital link with Chinese tourists since 2020, believe that these signals are not weak. Some of them even estimate that Chinese outbound tourism could soon reach 372 million.
In this perspective, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar is presented as a novel way to improve ties with Chinese visitors by emphasizing both the significant international sporting event of 2022 and the Chinese population in Europe. The offer "2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar", created by Fliggy is, at least, a weak signal of a possible recovery of outbound Chinese tourism and therefore in France thanks to the OG 2024. This could occur following a modest rebound in Chinese outbound tourism in 2023, which will be fueled by a youthful generation that has a strong appreciation for Made In France items and has done so for the past two years in particular..
1/ While the reduction in Chinese domestic tourism is escalating their desire for overseas travel., the weak signs of recovery of outbound Chinese tourism are there
A cross-recovery of domestic, inbound and outbound Chinese tourism in early 2023?
In China, authorities have eased quarantine times for international arrivals to 5 days Containments are reduced. Risk areas are limited. Mass testing is regulated. And overseas flights will no longer be suspended due to case of covid.
Is it conceivable for Chinese tourists to travel 4 hours by plane outside of China in the next months? When 85% of Chinese visitors traveled to Asia in 2019, it would not be unexpected if this trend continued. By removing all health restrictions, it is evident that many Asian nations are in the process of reopening their borders. This is true in Cambodia, Japan, and even more so in Thailand which between 2016 and 2018 was the first destination for Chinese tourists after Hong Kong but ahead of Japan and Korea. This is also the case of Hong Kong which, after more than two years of restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, will distribute in 2023, 500,000 plane tickets for free in an attempt to bring tourists back
In this context, in three first-tier Chinese cities, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin, and Hainan, the establishment of travel agencies with foreign funds to work on Chinese outbound tourist activities in the globe was approved in October 2022.
At the time of the national holiday on October 1, 2020, the Chinese domestic tourist industry reached an all-time high of 80% in October 2020, six months after Covid. At the time, Chinese tourists with prior international travel experience could easily travel to China by switching regions. With the current sanitary status, interior tourism will decline by October 2022. 422 million domestic trips were made in China in October 2022, 44,2% of 2019. This decline in Chinese domestic tourism in 2022, following its recovery in 2020, occurs almost three years after the country's citizens were last able to travel outside.I
... driven by a young generation looking for new experiences
"The new Chinese traveler is looking for something different in terms of experiences. The younger generation is much more independent than previous generations eager to explore nature, (gen Z rural tourism jump by 17%)sports and local gastronomy… more so than before, so expect significant changes in the behavior of Chinese travelers once travel resumes,” concludes Nan Dai, a Chinese market expert based in Xiamen, China, whose remarks are reported by Forward Keys What if China Outbounds reopens this year"??
...Like, for instance, the "Run towards France" initiative, which may serve as a catalyst for the revival of Chinese (sports) tourism in France during the World Cup or the Olympics.
The upcoming major international sporting events (the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup) may be crucial steps in the rehabilitation of Chinese tourism abroad. Highlighting the significance of sport, large sporting events, and consequently Chinese outbound (sports) tourism.
In a way, the presence in France of Chinese national rowing teams that are preparing for the Olympics, such as the team that trained for two months in Vichy in the summer of 2021, was an attempt to revive Chinese (sports) tourism. One more step, which some might call a weak signal, toward the resumption of Chinese tourism, particularly sports tourism, is Fliggy's World Cup offer for the Chinese diaspora in Europe, as well as Tencent's promotion of videos posted on its WeChat Channel live platform by mini KOLs who film sporting events (see third part).
On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of Pierre de Coubertin's talk at the Sorbonne, announcing his concept to reignite the Olympic flame, an example of the significance of big sporting events in China is provided, particularly when they are animated by the Olympic flame.
A day called "Dialogue of the Civilizations of the Time of Heaven and Forum on the Civilizations of the World and the 2022 Olympic Games" is being organized by the Chinese magazine Civilization on November 25, 2022, in this context. To accomplish this, the magazine has started a project called "Run towards France"to both celebrate this "Olympic manifesto" and get people to assemble in Paris for the 2024 Olympics, echoing the Chinese sponsors and visitors who will be in France for the Olympics in 2024. Another unreliable indicator of Chinese (sports) tourism's return in France?
Will this Y Chinese generation's worldwide trip experiences include less shopping? Given that this generation Y has been acclimated to shopping in China for the past three years, there may be a paradox in the declining significance of shopping during their overseas visits. Young people under the age of 35, who have been purchasing more and more foreign goods in China since 2020, particularly French cosmetics, could be the driving force behind the country's tourism rebound. Until 2019, they had been doing so globally or in France. The largest duty-free shopping malls are currently located in Hainan, and the top luxury players are moving forward their digitization.
Could outward tourism rise up again in 2023 or 2024, especially during the Olympic Games, at higher sustained rates than in 2019 (155 million) in this environment of no foreign travel and domestic tourism at half mast? Ada Xu, the European head of Fliggy, Alibaba's online travel agency, states that "there are 372 million Chinese tourists ready to travel as soon as the borders open".
2/ The initiatives taken by foreign travel destinations and their business partners are likewise unreliable indicators of the improvement in Chinese outbound tourism.
What preparations have been made by European tourist attractions for the return of Chinese visitors?
France, nearby European nations, as well as the United States, Japan, and South Korea, are our top strategic and financial priorities. Up until 2019, we were able to invest a large amount of money in marketing initiatives for our destination in China. We progressively ceased running campaigns on Ctrip, WeChat, Weibo, and Fliggy during the health crisis.When asked about their Chinese tourism plan by the end of 2022, French and European locations frequently respond with the same responses.
Since Chinese tourists have not traveled abroad for three years, foreign vacation destinations are accustomed to their absence. In fact, since 2022 summer, European and American tourists have nearly completely made up for the financial void left by their absence. International locations are considering if they should start making plans for the return of Chinese tourists in this situation. If so, what would Chinese tourists look like after the pandemic? What percentage of their trip will be spent shopping? What new digital tools will be implemented to grab their interest and their spending both before and during their trip??
...several inconclusive signals from Europe point to this.
A first clue for French destinations who are concerned about Chinese tourists is the lifting by France of the health control system at the borders for all international travelers on August 1, 2022, in accordance with the law ending the exceptional regimes created to fight against the epidemic linked to covid-19.
Being aware that several of them have resumed their advertising campaigns in Asia, especially in South Korea and Japan. Could the promotional campaigns that European destinations ran in 2019 to promote their destinations in mainland China soon be relaunched? In the meantime, it is evident that some European nations, like Italy, as well as luxury shopping companies that are inextricably linked to Chinese tourism, like La Samaritaine, are advancing their pawns by getting ready for a future in which Chinese tourists will once more dominate the world of international travel and shopping (live streaming and video).
?Italy is getting ready for a resurgence of Chinese tourists, but it's doing so digitally through WeChat Live. This summer, the Italian tourism board requested Chinese KOLs to promote a few Italian travel hotspots live on the WeChat Channel. There were 30,000 spectators there. (See Section 3).
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A "Works of art" film created by La Samaritaine could have been created by Atout France or the CRT Paris Région. Should we see this as a metaphor of a future journey when Chinese tourists return to Paris in 2023 or 2024 and invite other European cities to get ready for it?
3/ Digital players and Chinese OTAs have steadily updated their offer in response to the health issue in order to continue satisfying outbound Chinese tourism demand and prepare for their return.
With its touristic livestreaming to maintain a connection with travelers and provide locations the opportunity to do the same, Fliggy has since 2020 disrupted tourism in the midst of a health crisis.
While Chinese outbound travel fell off in 2020, Fliggy was able to sign up 270 million Chinese visitors to its tourist live broadcasts so they could travel the world from the comfort of their own homes. Fliggy capitalized on the sluggish signs of recovery in outbound tourism, which until 2019 was the world leader in tourism, through this live broadcasting and adapted or produced "new normality of travel" (Ada Xu). In 2019, there will be 150 million people, and $250 billion will be made in revenue.
It applied first-generation e-commerce live streaming to tourism in 2020. Alibaba has changed its "I see now, I buy now" for fashion and cosmetics sales strategy into "dream now, travel later" (virtual tours to important European museums) whose primary users are also members of this generation Y.
This "tourist livestreaming" evolved into a product in 2021 (virtual visit to the British Museum + 3-year pass for an in-person visit). On 11/11/2021, this "tourist product" was marketed as a straightforward sunscreen or perfume. By creating a new product, Alibaba Fliggy has thereby not only revealed and created but also and capitalized on the new norms of travel. Dream now, travel later : the Chinese touristic livestreaming sucess (in French).
With these two generations of live streaming, Fliggy has also given international destinations the ability to connect with their Chinese visitors in order to get ready for their return (see Ada Xu's interview below), as well as to gather a significant amount of big data about their travel goals and expectations. These huge data are just as much instruments for Fliggy to create new tools to predict and support the earliest signs of tourism revival as they are for collecting weak signals that may be used by locations to get ready for the return of tourists.
On its way, Alibaba has just launched a "world cup" offer for Chinese people living in Europe, a "neglected target" according to Ada XU. Which continues: "They do not need us for a stay in Rome but for value-added products". The World Cup in Qatar, a country that is not known to the Chinese, was therefore a good opportunity to launch, from Paris, two-night / three-day packages with flight, hotel, match for the French team. and sightseeing. "We shouldn't miss the World Cup," says Ada Xu. As with 1st and 2nd generation live streaming, the specificity of Fliggy is to address destinations directly. After the British Museum, the Louvre Museum or the Prado Museum, Fliggy worked with its partner MyComm, Visit Qatar and the French Football Federation. In the absence of their national team in Qatar, the Chinese settled in Europe can follow the French team. Fliggy is thus betting on the interest of the Chinese in sport, for major events by testing an offer that could be used for the Olympics in the context of a direct relationship with tourist destinations.
Tencent disrupt (sports) tourism in a different way through WeChat Live Channel.
Alibaba and Tencent face intense competition in China for mobile payments as well as when Chinese citizens travel abroad. The 2020 health crisis signaled a new phase. In contrast to the placement of Fliggy noted above, the Tencent group, committed to a tradition of infrequently dealing with tourism places live, enhances and facilitates the films broadcast on its platform along with WeChat Pay and mini-programs. WeChat Video Channel, with its 1.2 billion subscribers, allows celebrities (singers, football players, etc.), Key Opinion Leader (KOL), and international locations to publish videos on the platform in order to grow their popularity among Chinese consumers.
This will also help Tencent increase its renown because it will be able to advertise that a certain world celebrity is present on its WeChat Live platform and has a certain number of followers. and so boost the number of its foreign or Chinese subscribers.
A small KOL might advertise a tourism place or a sporting occasion (World Cup, Olympic Games). The KOL takes advantage of Tencent's marketing support on WeChat Channel Live by capitalizing on the fame of the location or event he is covering.
If the KOL does not yet have a large subscriber base (less than 100,000), it can organize the promotion of the tourism location on its own. He will subsequently receive "remuneration" in the form of more subscribers as a result of Tencent's marketing support, which will naturally also help the tourist attraction.
If the KOL is more well-known (has more than 100,000 subscribers), the tourist site that wants to profit from its notoriety on the WeChat Channel Live platform with its followers can request and pay for it.
A destination that uses and pays a tiny KOL to capitalize on its audience on WeChat Channel Live is, for instance, the Italian Tourist Board, as was previously mentioned. Tencent is also aware of the attention it can generate on its platform by capitalizing on Chinese people's passion for sports and important international sporting events. Following the direct hiring of football stars like Lionel Messi in 2013, Tencent now permits foreign players to gain prominence on WeChat Channel. Similar to mini-Journalists Image Reporters, it enlists mico-KOLs (less than 100,000 subscribers) to post stories on the World Cup in Qatar or on athletic events connected to Qatar (like PSG, for example) or the World Cup.
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A significant player in the digital tourism industry, who believes it is novel to bet on the Chinese diaspora in Europe, launched the Alibaba / Fliggy World Cup offer because it is more strategically important than ever to maintain a connection with Chinese tourists who may number 372 million around the world tomorrow. If this World Cup offer is successful, it may indicate that the diaspora travel associated with World Cups is maybe a lagging indicator of a resurgence in Chinese tourism that could occur in 2023 or 2024 in conjunction with the Olympics. In this situation, a recovery of Chinese travel abroad after the health crisis could have happened in 4 stages::
These first two stages between 2020 and 2022 are also, on the strength of the weak signals of a recovery in Chinese tourism and the gradual Chinese easing of health constraints, a laboratory for the competition that Alibaba and Tencent will engage in for the 3rd and 4th stages.
2023: Probable return of Chinese tourists from China 4 hours away by plane then in the world driven by the young generation in search of new experiences
2024, around the Olympic Games, a catalyst for (sports) tourism which could see Chinese outbound tourism not only pick up again but also exceed, by a large margin? its 2019 level
According to Ada XU, "Sport is at the heart of Europe in the years to come", she underlines, before adding that "other categories are to be developed". Ada Xu specifies that Fliggy's "world cup" offer "will appeal to others as the potential of sports tourism, in particular in Europe and in particular in France (Rugby World Cup and Olympic Games) looks promising in the coming years.,
Thus Chinese tourism could take off again under the impetus of the young generation and on the occasion of quintessential sports tourism events (Football World Cup, Olympic Games) and smile on the digital players, Alibaba and Tencent, who have been able to maintain a digital link with Chinese tourists between 2020 and 2022. This period 2020-2022 is also when Generation Y, again thanks to e-commerce, buys French products, particularly cosmetics. Digital (livestreaming, video on WeChat Channel live) and therefore influence could therefore be put to the service of cross-promotion of the France destination and Made In France and of know-how tourism on the occasion of the J0 2024 and the Chinese enthusiasm for sports tourism and major international events.
And if a campaign using digital technology and the power of French-made products to help the recovery of Chinese tourist in 2023–2024 during the Olympic Games was also used to amplify and reinforce the recovery of American tourism that was started in France during the summer of 2022?