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How Australia can capitalise on Chinese tourism

The new generation of independent Chinese travellers are seeking out interesting tourism experiences and Australia needs to start planning to make the most of the booming market, write Susanne Becken and Noel Scott.

Jul 13, 2016, updated Jul 13, 2016
Lost in translation. Australia will have to try harder to attract Chinese tourists.

Lost in translation. Australia will have to try harder to attract Chinese tourists.

tourism around the world is experiencing a boom: the numbers of tourists are increasing and the types of tourism diversifying. But Australia will need a more culturally sensitive approach than the catchy advertising of old to capitalise on this emerging market.

Australia is not the only country that is trying to benefit from Chinese tourism; in fact, it is attracting only 1.5 per cent of Chinese outbound travel (ranking 15th in the world). However, China is now Australia’s largest visitor market.

The increase in Chinese tourists is set to continue. Arrivals in 2015 grew by 22 per cent compared with 2014, and in Queensland the growth rate was even higher at 30 per cent. In 2015, the amount that Chinese tourists spent in Australia amounted to $A6.2 billion, 21 per cent of all money spent by overseas travellers, an average of $6489 per person).

It is not surprising that Government is investing to maximise the economic benefits from this market – especially against the background of a declining resources sector.

How Chinese tourism is changing

recent Goldman Sachs report on the Chinese tourist boom found that Chinese outbound tourism had risen from only 10 million in 2000 to more than 120 million travellers in 2015. This is expected to grow to 220 million by 2025 (although this includes visits to Macau and Hong Kong).

Expenditure by tourists will grow from $US290 billion to $450 billion in 2025. At present only 4 per cent of Chinese own a passport, predicted to grow to 12 per cent within the next 10 years.

The Chinese traveller is evolving. Until recently most used travel packages, but over the past few years they have become more experienced independent travellers. This means that they want interesting and culturally appropriate experiences.

Chinese millennials, a young generation that is well-educated, speaks English and is highly connected through the internet, has attracted particular interest from the tourism industry.

Chinese tourists use digital media to plan for their travel but they use different types compared to Australian tourists. More than 90 per cent of Chinese internet users engage in social media, in particular WeChat and SinaWeibo. Weibo, for example, is used daily by more than 50 million bloggers.

Australia cashing in

Australia needs to ensure that the “tourism experience” is what Chinese people want. Some other destinations offer better deals, such as the no-visa policy that the Maldives and Fiji have introduced. Open borders encourage more travel.

The tourism industry, in partnership with government, is busy addressing this. For example, tourism businesses are enhancing their knowledge of digital platforms, learning about Chinese social media channels, and creating Chinese language web pages.

Tourism operators are also adjusting their experiences specifically for the Chinese market, to improve the food and dining experiences and to offer more in Mandarin and other Chinese languages.

Going further, there is the potential to attract more Chinese brands to Australia, including Chinese-owned hotel chains that offer very different experiences from traditional Western hotels, Chinese clothing brands, and entertainment experiences that are popular in China. This will improve the satisfaction of Chinese tourists.

But it’s not all a one-way street. In order to share the benefits of Chinese tourism it has to be linked to other investment. Often, Chinese visitors will holiday in Australia and on their trip look for information about an investment property or business or perhaps investigate schools or universities as places for their children to attend.

Australia can also benefit in terms of protecting its natural environment. One of the main attractions for Chinese tourists is the clean and green environment and native animals.

Chinese visitors could be actively engaged in nature conservation activities. As Chinese travellers become more independent, Australia has opportunities to entice a proportion of them “off the beaten track” to engage with local culture and the environment as well as contributing to economic activities outside the main tourist centres.

Now is the time to plan for how the vast Chinese market can generate the greatest overall value to Australia. This could be by targeting young millennials, luxury travellers, environmental or cultural special interest markets, or any other sub-group that generates benefits beyond the sheer numbers.

Planning means we can target particular market segments to maximise the return for Australia.

Susanne Becken is Professor of Sustainable Tourism and Director of the Griffith Institute for Tourism, Griffith University. Noel Scott is Professor at the Institute of Tourism, Griffith University. This article was first published on The Conversation.

Topics: Tourism
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