Region looks to attract more Chinese visitors through
Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017; Abu Dhabi to increase Chinese tourist numbers
by 265% by 2021
Tourism
professionals across the Middle East are furthering their efforts to increase
their share of the $168 billion global outbound Chinese tourism market, through
a number of travel incentives.
With
120 million outbound travellers in 2016 alone, China has retained its position
as the world’s largest outbound tourism market for the past four years,
according to data released ahead of ATM, taking place at Dubai World Trade
Centre from 24 – 27 April 2017.
Simon Press, Senior Exhibition
Director, ATM, said: “It’s crucial that tourist hubs throughout the Middle East
maximise their reach into mega-markets such as China. Demand cycles, budget
trends, tech-savvy hotels, food and beverage, sightseeing, culture and heritage
centres, can easily be met in many key destinations across the region.”
A
number of travel incentives introduced into the region over recent months
include visas on arrival for Chinese nationals visiting Qatar and the UAE. The
private sector is also employing more Cantonese and Mandarin speaking staff to
help ease the language barrier and more Chinese businesses are operating their
Middle East and Africa operations from the UAE.
“With
4,000 mostly Chinese outlets, Dragon Mart retail centre in Dubai, is a fine
example of this,” added Press.
Initiatives
such as the Qatar China 2016 Year of Culture have also helped boost the profile
of Arab states, with arrivals into Doha from Asia and Oceania totalling 342,976 in the first half of last year.
“There is every reason to believe that China will
maintain its position as a top source market, moving forward. Currently 13 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,” said Press.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), China is the second
largest global economy, worth $11.3 trillion, and its outbound tourism market
was valued at $168 billion globally in 2016, with 59.3 million Chinese nationals
travelling abroad in the first half of 2016 and 62 million in the second half,
according to a report by Thomson Reuters, an
increase of around 4% year-on-year.
In Abu
Dhabi, plans to attract 600,000 Chinese tourists a year by 2021, if realised, would
represent a 265% increase on the figures recorded for the first nine months of
2016, according to data from the emirate’s Tourism and Culture Authority.
In
Dubai, 540,000 tourists arrived from China in 2016, up from 450,000 in 2015,
cementing the country’s place as a top 10 source market for the emirate. Elsewhere,
the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) is preparing to
welcome as many as 200,000 Chinese visitors to the emirate by 2021.
Looking at inbound visitors from
the Middle East into China, the Asian giant’s presence in the ATM country zones
will not go unnoticed as it prepares to showcase its travel and hotel brands in
both the hospitality and technology areas of the show.
Exhibiting for the first time at
this year’s event is China National Tourist Board, while The Garden Hotel
Company Ltd, Guangzhou returns. Among the others already signed
up is start-up aggregator PKFARE, which aims to be one
of the largest online B2B marketplaces in the industry. PKFARE was a first-time
exhibitor at WTM London in November 2016, following which representatives
signed commercial agreements with four new partners.
Established in
2014, PKFARE allows agents to book air tickets and hotels around the world,
with links to consolidators, hotels and global distribution systems such as
Amadeus, Sabre and
Travelport.