More than 90 travel trade and industry suppliers are set to show why Britain is the must-go-now destination to buyers from China, Japan and South Korea at VisitBritain’s annual Destination Britain China and North East Asia event.
The British suppliers, many of whom are attending the event in China for the first time, include hotels, retailers, visitor attractions, tour operators and local destinations spanning the length and breadth of the nations and regions.
More than 6,000 one-to-one business appointments are set to take place during the three-day trade fair being held in Sanya, Hainan Province, China from Monday 19 to Wednesday 21 November, giving more than 80 buyers the chance to see the latest innovations on offer from Britain’s tourism industry.
VisitBritain Director Patricia Yates said: “This flagship trade event has been a catalyst for business for a decade, giving British travel suppliers and local destinations the chance to get their tourism products and services in front of top travel buyers from China, the world’s most valuable outbound market, and this year from North East Asia.
“The latest innovations in tourism from across Britain are also on show with the focus this year on food and drink and exploring more through regional gateways, ultimately inspiring visitors to book a trip right now, travel further and stay longer, boosting the economy.”
Destination Britain China has been running since 2009 and is a leading event in VisitBritain’s international trade show calendar. This year sees buyers from Japan and South Korea attend for the first time, reflecting VisitBritain’s new promotional efforts in these markets.
Event sponsors this year include China Southern Airlines, Royal Museums Greenwich and Visit Wales.
The UK saw record visits from China in the first half of 2018 with 137,000 visits, up 19% on the same period last year.
Chinese perceptions of the UK as a visitor destination are strong. China ranked the UK second overall out of 50 nations for its overall brand in the 2018 Anholt Nation Brands Index, up two places from 2017, and also rated it highly for having ‘vibrant cities and urban attractions’, ‘contemporary culture’, ‘historic buildings’ and for its ‘cultural heritage.’
Visitors from China are some of the UK’s highest spenders, spending on average £2,059 during their visit in 2017, more than three times the all-market average. Last year saw China enter the UK’s top 10 most valuable inbound visitor markets.
Holiday visitors from China also stay longer in the UK, visiting for an average of 10 nights in 2017 compared to an all market average of six.
For every 22 visits from China to the UK, one job is created in Britain’s tourism industry.
VisitBritain has ambitions to increase spend from Chinese visitors to £1 billion annually by 2020.
Tags: VisitBritain
