- According to research by Huawei’s Petal Ads platform, the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Middle East increased by 54% between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024
- The experts highlighted cultural experiences and scenery as priorities for Chinese travellers when booking a vacation
- Arabian Travel Market (ATM) continues until 9 May at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 7 May 2024: Capitalising on China’s projected tourism growth was a key topic at yesterday’s Market Insights Summit at Arabian Travel Market (ATM). The summit, which took place on the Global Stage at the Middle East’s leading travel and tourism exhibition, explored the potential of the developing markets such as China.
During the dedicated session, a panel of experts delved into effective strategies for attracting and engaging Chinese travellers. The panel included Sukhpreet Singh Ghataura, Director of Ecosystem Development at MEAI Huawei, Lu Pan, Marketing VP at Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper Co., Ltd, and Sienna Parulis Cook, Director of Marketing and Communications at Dragon Trail International.
Sharing the latest research from Huawei’s Petal Ads platform, Ghataura said: “Between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024 the number of outbound Chinese tourists visiting the Middle East increased by 54%, with the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia being the top destinations in the region for Chinese travellers. In 2023, China accounted for 10% of global travel, with a collective spending of approximately US $265 billion. The primary driver for China’s outbound tourists is the cultural experiences they can enjoy in foreign destinations.” He added: “In terms of when they travel, notable seasons are the May Day holiday, China National Day and the Spring Festival.”
According to Huawei’s research, 66% of people travelling to the Middle East are looking to engage in cultural experiences, and the majority of outbound Chinese tourists are motivated by factors such as luxury offerings and sporting attractions. The research also identified a significant spike in the senior middle-class segment who prefer quality travel and have access to a higher disposable income.
Parulis Cook commented: “In terms of the consumer research that Dragon Trail International has conducted, we can see major growth this year in terms of consumer confidence and intention to travel. In 2023, 30% of Chinese travellers said they would not leave China to travel, this figure is now down to 10%. Of the travellers that we surveyed this year, 5% had already travelled, and 18% had booked travel – of this, 94% had booked travel to more than one destination. This means that if they are visiting Europe, they will be travelling to multiple destinations within that region.”
Cook highlights that scenery is one of the main factors motivating tourists to leave China and that travellers are looking to experience nature and culture that is vastly different from their home country. Pan adds that in addition to traditional and digital marketing platforms, word of mouth is a powerful tool when it comes to promoting travel and tourism to Chinese tourists. She describes China’s outbound tourism recovery as an “upward spiral” rather than linear growth.
Pan concludes: “Tourism boards should prioritise storytelling by effectively communicating the stories about their businesses, destinations, and cultures and showing a genuine interest in their target audience to build trust.”
ATM’s summit tomorrow will focus on ‘Luxury’, featuring speakers from leading international hospitality brands, including Raffles, The Lana (Dorchester Collection), Jumeirah, and Kempinski. Topics on the agenda at the Luxury Summit tomorrow include Bringing the Experience Economy to Luxury: Attracting Customers with One-off Moments That Matter and Luxury Product Development: What Travel Can Learn from Retail.
Another highlight tomorrow will be the announcement of the ATM Best Stand Awards, which recognise the design creativity and business-friendly appeal of exhibiting companies across six categories – ‘Best Stand Design’, ‘Best Stand for Doing Business’, ‘Best Stand Feature’, ‘Best New Stand’, ‘Best Use of Technology’ and ‘Sustainable Stand Award’.
ATM concludes on Thursday 9 May at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
The latest ATM news stories are available at https://hub.wtm.com/category/press/atm-press-releases/.
To register your interest in attending ATM 2024 or to submit a stand enquiry, visit https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb/enquire.html.
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For more information, log on to wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html.
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), now in its 31st year, is the leading international travel and tourism event in the Middle East for inbound and outbound tourism professionals. ATM 2023 welcomed over 40,000 attendees and hosted over 30,000 visitors, including more than 2,100 exhibitors and representatives from over 150 countries, across 10 halls at Dubai World Trade Centre. Arabian Travel Market is part of Arabian Travel Week. #ATMDubai
Next in-person event: 6 to 9 May 2024, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai.
https://www.wtm.com/atm/en-gb.html
Arabian Travel Week is a festival of events taking place from 6 to 12 May, within and alongside Arabian Travel Market 2024. Providing a renewed focus for the Middle East’s travel and tourism sector, it includes Influencers’ events, GBTA Business Travel Forums, as well as ATM Travel Tech. It also features the ATM Buyer Forums, as well as a series of country forums.
https://www.wtm.com/arabian-travel-week/en-gb.html
About RX
RX is a global leader in events and exhibitions, leveraging industry expertise, data, and technology to build businesses for individuals, communities, and organisations. With a presence in 25 countries across 42 industry sectors, RX hosts approximately 350 events annually. RX is committed to creating an inclusive work environment for all our people. RX empowers businesses to thrive by leveraging data-driven insights and digital solutions. RX is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.rxglobal.com.
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RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 36,000 people over 40% of whom are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York stock exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. *Note: Current market capitalisation can be found at http://www.relx.com/investors
World Travel Market (WTM) portfolio comprises leading travel events and online portals across four continents. The events are:
WTM London is the world’s most influential travel & tourism event for the global travel community. The show is the ultimate destination for those seeking a macro view of the travel industry and a deeper understanding of the forces shaping it. WTM London is where influential travel leaders, buyers and high-profile travel companies gather to exchange ideas, drive innovation, and accelerate business outcomes.
Latest event: 5 to 7 November 2024 at ExCel London.
WTM Latin America takes place annually in the city of São Paulo and attracts around 20,000 tourism professionals during the three-day event. The event offers qualified content together with networking and business opportunities. In this its ninth edition – there have been eight face-to-face events along with a 100% virtual one, which was held in 2021 – WTM Latin America continued to focus on effective business generation, and achieved the advance booking of six thousand meetings that were held between buyers, travel agents and exhibitors in 2022.
Next event: 14 to 16 April 2025 – Expo Center Norte, SP, Brazil.
WTM Africa launched in 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2022, WTM Africa facilitated more than 7 thousand unique pre-scheduled appointments, an increase of more than 7% compared to 2019 and welcomed more than 6 thousand visitors (unaudited), the same number as in 2019.
Next event: 9 to 11 April 2025 – Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town http://africa.wtm.com/
About ATW Connect: Africa Travel Week’s digital arm, is a virtual hub packed to the seams with interesting content, industry news and insights, and the opportunity to hear from experts on a variety of topics in our new monthly webinar series. All with the aim to keep all of us in the travel and tourism industry connected. ATW Connect focuses on inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism, luxury travel and the MICE/business travel sector as well as travel technology.
WTM Global Hub, is the WTM Portfolio online portal created to connect and support travel industry professionals around the world. The resource hub offers the latest guidance and knowledge to help exhibitors, buyers and others in the travel industry face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic. WTM Portfolio is tapping into its global network of experts to create content for the hub. https://hub.wtm.com/