Spotlight on China - Edition 2
It has been three months since your last update. What recent changes are impacting life in China now?
With the continued border closures in China and people unable to leave there has certainly been a surge in domestic holidays over the current summer. Of course, this has been impacted with declared COVID hot spots that continue to occur throughout China. It has also been a very wet summer resulting in many areas suffering devastating floods and impacting many people. People are generally positive however about the future and this can be seen with a surge in domestic consumer spending. Whist there are no current lock downs in the major cities, there are lockdowns occurring across China. People are continuing to move about, however they are cautious and continuing to take measures to ensure their safety.
China - ASP2021 Conference © Tourism Australia
What is the general sentiment within the China market tourism industry?
Similar issues being faced in Australia by our industry are felt in China too, from aviation, trade and the local industry. Consumers in China face the same issues that are being felt globally with regard to confidence to travel and many are changing their travel plans several times before departure. The confidence of travellers to make long term plans is impacted by declared hot spots or provincial or city borders closing. Some domestic operators are reporting good numbers and many of our international trade partners are flexing their business models to adjust to domestic.
We held the Australian Tourism Exchange Live (ATE Live) in China in June and hosted over 200 buyers in Suzhou. The live event connected the buyers to the Australian industry who joined online over two days. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive as the trade reconnected with old friends to learn and share information about their respective businesses.
Andrew Hogg at ATE2021, China © Tourism Australia
What are Tourism Australia’s plans for the year ahead?
The key distribution and aviation partners in China remain a focus for us. We continue to do Aussie Specialist training across China to engage front line sellers so they can continue to expand their knowledge of Australian products, destinations and people. Our social media channels also have strong engagement during the continued border closures. Through our platforms we have been sharing Australian stories of products and people. One of our engaging social videos has been of a Kangaroo scratching its chest whilst stretching out, we have seen over 1.4 billion views of this video with consumers doing the same actions and posting to our account.
And finally, please share your top three reasons why you believe the Australian industry should stay in touch with the China market this year?
People to people links between China and Australia continue to remain strong, engaging with trade or consumers through TA channels or your own contacts not only builds on this strength but demonstrates our welcoming attitude for when borders reopen.
Share your stories with the China team as we are always looking at new and engaging content for consumers and trade. Both consumers and trade want to learn more about Australia and want to share this with family, friends and customers.
Our many past visitors to Australia can’t wait to return and we have new customers seeking new destinations that offer the experiences they have been missing. I am reminded of this everyday when talking to trade, consumers or other partners when they express their strong desire to travel to Australia.
More information
Please reach out to the in-market team in China with your stories, products or updates so we can continue to serve you in market with consumer and trade.
