Thank you Mr.Trump We'll take care of the Chinese Tourists

The fact of the matter is that the Trump Administration is furiously accelerating its confrontation with China. If it is true that the relations between these two world economic powers, ever since 2018, have been like a roller-coaster, in recent weeks it seems that the US wagon is reaching a real crazy speed going downhill. The US are notably in the verge of loosing the few credits left and, in my opinion, Europe should take immediate advantage of this situation, openly showing, more than ever, how welcome the Chinese tourists are in our countries.

Having called the Covid-19 virus the ?Chinese Virus?, leading the way for an unprecedented racism threat over Chinese in the US and in many other countries, accusations kept coming undisguised: the latest episode seems to be the so called economic espionage from the Chinese consulate in Houston but in the meantime the world have been presented with real life dramas such as Huawei, TikTok or WeChat, undermining business relations, the WHO withdrawal or the criticisms over China options over HK, all of which more likely to be based on internal politics and electoral strategy than real problems or concerns.

It is not my intention to judge the US Administration reasons. I simply investigate the facts, consider all possible consequences, and conclude that we, in Europe, have a chance to benefit from this war, and I see absolutely no problem in grabbing the opportunity. After all, we’re talking business…

According to an unsuspected UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) – hope the US do not withdraw from it now - China is the world’s number one source market for tourism. Naturally, the main destinations for the Chinese tourists are in Asia, but Europe as a whole is an increasingly popular choice for these tourists, which, on average, spend per day on holidays twice as much as the non-Chinese traveller. Not surprisingly, according to the same source, China remains the larger world spender (I’d prefer to call it investor, as tourism is always an investment in one’s own wellbeing and culture), with one fifth of the international tourism spending. Any doubts about the business rationale of going after the Chinese market?

The opportunity, as I stated earlier, is there. If the US are playing games which, as a collateral damage, keep the Chinese tourists away, Europe should – in fact must – consider making an additional effort to promote itself in China, showing additional flexibility as far as Visas are concerned, offering incentives for businesses to adapt themselves to Chinese tourists and motivating everyone to get to know the clients of the future.

Besides…wanna bet who’s going to be the first nation to start travelling again?

Paulo Brehm