Hotels and hospitality businesses in the West need to do their homework in order to attract bookings from fast-increasing numbers of Chinese tourists.
That’s according to the Bristol and West of England China Bureau, which works to strengthen and expand the region’s ties with China.
CEO Dianne Francombe said the UK hotels industry had seen an overall drop in overseas visitors in 2018 – but larger numbers of Chinese tourists could be vital to reversing the trend and to driving growth.
“The latest figures from Expedia highlight the importance of Chinese visitors to maintaining overall visitor rates to this country. The firm found a huge increase in Asian tourists in Q1 2019. Demand from China was up 180 per cent year on year, Japan up 25 per cent and Korea up 20 per cent.”
Many are arriving on holiday but increasing numbers of people are visiting to attend wedding parties or degree ceremonies.
And Dianne Francombe believes West-based businesses could do more to attract Far Eastern travellers.
“The new generation of Chinese visitors offer a significant revenue stream for topline retail outlets in the South West. We should learn to be more welcoming to Chinese Visitors and respond to their unique requirements.
“New generations of Chinese visitors are younger than the average visitor to the UK and they are looking for unique experiences as well as shopping opportunities. The West of England can offer these packages.
“Destination cities such as Bristol and Bath must ensure they can compete as high-end shopping locations such as Bicester, in order to attract their fair share of this highly lucrative market.”
Yang Ding is founder of Bath-based New Silk Route Digital which was formed to meet the needs of UK businesses who want to market themselves effectively in China, and the demands from Chinese consumers who are looking for great products or services that UK businesses have to offer.
Yang Ding works closely with Bristol and West of England China Bureau and is helping Visit Bath to promote Bath tourism in China.
He said: “There are many things businesses can do to attract Chinese tourists. I normally recommend to my clients that they do their research on Chinese customer purchases.
“Use free, easy to sign up Chinese interface Wifi connections and connect with influencers on social media in China who have hundreds of thousands followers to experience the service.
“Develop USP if haven’t got one and get listed on Chinese holiday booking platforms. As I said, it is a very complicated topic, different businesses have different solutions.”
Bristol and West of England China Bureau fosters business links and pioneered trade and cultural links with Bristol’s sister city of Guangzhou.
