You yourself are no longer stationed in Beijing. What do you hear from our colleagues on site? How are you experiencing the current corona wave?
In Austrian there is the beautiful expression “to be zipped”. In recent months, our colleagues on site have been very busy with daily tests, incorrect “health codes”, requests to stay at home, etc. While everyone secretly hoped that it would eventually end, no one really believed that anything noteworthy would change before the summer of 2023. The streets and restaurants are strangely empty right now, but despite everything, the mood on social media is has significantly improved.
What could the restart of Chinese tourism actually look like?
We expect a gradual return of Chinese travelers to Austria. At first, affluent Chinese with international travel experience from the metropolises of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will certainly travel again, often booking and arranging their trips individually. They were also the ones who missed out on foreign travel the most during the pandemic.
Is traveling abroad generally only a problem for wealthy Chinese or can we also count on the Chinese middle class as a target group?
It’s still difficult to estimate at the moment, because we don’t know exactly how much the middle class was affected by the economic slowdown during Corona. There are several statements about this. The fact is, however, that China is facing an aging society and is currently experiencing high unemployment among the young and educated. We will have to wait and see if and how the government will intervene to revive the economy and return to pre-Corona growth rates.
How does the Austrian Tourist Board react to openings?
During the three years of the pandemic, we have always been present in China with background noise. We took care of social media channels and contacts in the travel industry. We have had several high profile visits from Trip.com in Austria during the pandemic. Some Chinese tour operators have now set up a kind of European headquarters in Vienna. We are now closely monitoring the situation and will adjust our activities in terms of content and timing if necessary. But it looks quite nice now that we can be physically on site with many Austrian partners for the first time since 2019, as planned from April 12th to 15th. September 2023. If the situation and framework conditions permit, we will organize ad hoc events in Beijing and Shanghai in which Austrian industry will be able to participate. We continue our broad content alliance open to national tourism organizations. In the sector of art and culture, as well as winter, we will resume our campaigns. And of course we will invest even more in our heart, the social media channels.
What is your advice for domestic suppliers regarding the Chinese market now?
First of all, be quick when requests arrive now. With China, we must not forget that we are in global competition. Plus, it’s definitely worth stepping up or upgrading Contacts again. A lot has happened in the industry in recent years. As little Austria, we have to continue where we left off in 2020, namely appearing together and thinking online, especially when it comes to products. Especially where the Chinese increasingly rely on a few destinations on a trip to Europe or even on mono trips, we have to show what Austria has to offer as a whole: from cultural heritage and natural conditions to culinary delights. Single beacons will not be enough here.
