A report reveals that in order to capitalise on the Chinese travel boom, hospitality players in the MENA region need to understand China's digital payment systems and provide for Mandarin-speaking staff and Chinese-language written materials.
Travel & Tourism
The MENA region is seeing a tourism boom from China. In Abu Dhabi, plans to attract 600,000 Chinese tourists a year by 2021 would represent a 265 percent increase on the figures recorded for the first nine months of 2016.
In Dubai, 540,000 tourists arrived from China in 2016, up from 450,000 a year earlier and cementing the country’s place as a top 10 source market for the emirate. Thirteen Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as Hong Kong and Taipei, are connected to Dubai with more than 100 weekly flights.
Meanwhile, even before Morocco’s decision to drop visa requirements for Chinese visitors in July 2016, Chinese online travel company Ctrip predicted a 3,500% increase in visa applications to the country. With 42,000 Chinese tourists in 2016 – a 300% year-on-year increase from 2015 – Morocco has announced a goal of 100,000 visitors from the Middle Kingdom this year.
Retail
According to the report, by 2019, Chinese tourists will spend $264 billion abroad. Shopping is accounts for more than half of Chinese tourists' total spending, with Chinese shoppers abroad expected to buy more luxury goods this year than tourists from all other countries combined.
Up to 25% of luxury goods sold in Mall of the Emirates are purchased by Chinese tourists according the Majid Al Futtaim Group, which has 11 malls across the Middle East.
Dubai’s retail sector accounts for more than 40% of all tourism spending in the region. This is expected to increase in the coming years with the introduction and development of quality retail offerings. This includes Muscat’s Palm Mall and Riyadh’s Mall of Saudi, which will include indoor skiing when it opens its doors in 2022.
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Culture & Heritage
While shopping remains important, the shift away from the material to the experiential is increasing among Chinese travellers.
According to a report by Airbnb Inc., Chinese tourists are searching for lesser known cities and villages when traveling to countries and regions related to the 'Belt and Road' Initiative. The rise in interest in cultural tourism lies parallel to Chinese travelers’ eagerness to one-up their friends with photos from far flung destinations posted to their WeChat Moments newsfeed.
The report concludes that the business opportunity for brands in the region is exponential for those players who have the ability to understand and act on the needs and aspirations of today’s modern Chinese traveller, which include:
- A desire to travel to new and exotic locations.
- The need for outreach within mainland China in order to get on the radar of travellers in the planning stages of travel.
- Mandarin speaking staff and Chinese-language written materials
- Familiarity with China's infrastructure of social networks and digital payment systems