Tourism industry pros: not one-trick-ponies
The tourism industry is continuously affected by political, economic and social trends. All of them can impact on the numbers of international and domestic visitors. So why do marketing managers, product managers, CEO’s and other tourism professionals obsess with the inbound passenger trends? In the end trends aren’t the point, the opportunity they highlight are.
Looking for the impact of your sales strategy is one thing, RevPar (revenue per available room) another — but when the global tourism out/inbound figures come in there is a single global trend that remains predominantly on the up in the past 5 years. It’s so constant that it has and will change most destinations’ marketing strategies. China’s outbound tourists.
Are you another Chinese specialist? Hardly. I don’t speak or read a word of Chinese, never lived there and still trying to figure out how to create a group on WeChat. But I do recognize an elephant when I see one. Travel agents worry about Airbnb — literally moan, bitch and complain. Not all do, but enough to make my point. They are so loud that a few governments are seriously contemplating passing new legislation to hamper Airbnb’s efforts and avoid disrupting their tourism industry. While some in the industry sit on the sidewalk, point fingers at Airbnb and cry like babies, it seems few are looking for new opportunities macro economic change is offering.
Germany and the USA are no longer the biggest creators of tourists on the planet. The number of Chinese travelling abroad is constantly growing and could be doubled in 2020. It is estimated to reach figures totalling 234 million annual tourists (source: Business Intelligence Fung Center). It’s a blessing in disguise. Why?
Chinese tourists have little in common with American or European tourists. Tourism companies will need to invest in Chinese Friendly Services (CFS). The first to gain from this will be our good trusty friends the travel consultants (emoticon with sunglasses on all their smartphones now).
You are not a consultant you don’t care? You are still worried about the Airbnb fad hurting your business? I hear you. You will be happy to know Chinese digital reality is very different. Airbnb faces stiff competition in the Chinese market (Tujia, Xiaozhu.com) and their brand is not as widely recognized as in the rest of the world. In China, Airbnb have a larger sword then anywhere else looming over their neck with regards to regulatory risk. The online short-term rental industry is still not clearly defined. Authorities in that country have yet to provide clear answers regarding taxes, safety, population management and other aspects of the C2C short-term rent model. So Airbnb’s foreign background, in relation to its competitors, may have the hardest time adapting to the Chinese regulatory environment. All this translates into Chinese millennials not being pre-set to use Airbnb services when they travel abroad. And all of that is minute if you consider that the vast majority of Chinese who travel long-haul will want to use travel agents and pre-bought packages put together by the finest tourism industry craftsmanship known to the tourism world: Enter the Wholesaler.
There certainly is an opportunity to be had in the growing Chinese market for many inbound tourism service providers if they are willing to re-invent themselves. However change is scary for most of us. The good news is that there is plenty of time to prepare for Chinese clients. 70% of all Chinese tourists today stay in Asia and Oceania when leaving on holiday (source: “Chinese Tourists Roaming Closer to Home” The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 2015). However, in years to come they will be wanting to explore more distant lands. This is why I estimate that there is plenty of time to start preparing bespoke travel services for Chinese free independent travellers. Especially if you are in regions like Africa and Latin America.
The tourism industry needs to come together and show the world that although C2C travel companies are a fascinating new fad, trendy gimmicky websites will never be able to replace the convenience of speaking to a another human who has years of experience in preparing tailor-made bespoke holiday journeys.
Surely, only some tourism trends apply in my region or market? Yes, local context is important, but today aspirations are global. Collective tourism industry know-how is a valuable asset that will survive any trend or fad. People who know how to deliver dreams to millions of holiday-makers should not feel threatened. Nevertheless, the best in the industry know that closer collaboration and networking is needed. My hope is that we are evolving into a better-connected industry by embracing the right attitude and creating powerful B2B tourism networking tools that allow us to share local and global insights.
