FCO Inertia holding back Chinese market

WTM 2003 Special: Europe, and especially the UK is missing out on a hugely lucrative market of inbound Chinese tourists because they are failing to prioritise negotiations with China. According to ETOA executive director, Tom Jenkins, the European Commission (EC) and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) should be entering into talks with the Chinese government in order to get “Approved Destination Status” (ADS). He told TravelMole: “At the moment there is a rumour that the FCO is in discussions and all the EC is doing is agreeing to agree.” Mr Jenkins explaned that the reason the UK would enter the discussions with China separately from the rest of Europe is because the UK failed to join the Schengen area six years ago. This is a group of countries covering most of Europe, bar Denmark, Sweden and the UK, which is covered by a single visa from China. “It is a financial and administrational hurdle for Chinese tourists to come to the UK from mainland Europe” said Mr Jenkins. Mr Jenkins said the UK was reluctant to join Schengen because it was anxious about removing border controls with the rest of Europe. He says there is an alternative whereby the FCO could recognise the Schengen visa without removing border controls – something the FCO has not been keen to adopt. “In the current political climate, the government is wary about opening borders” said Mr Jenkins. Mr Jenkins says the EC has signed a declaration of intent with China over acquiring ADS, but the process is tied up in bureaucracy. He says there is a “rumour” that the FCO is also in discussions, but nothing formal has been announced. He outlined a number of problems restricting the process of acquiring ADS for Europe and the UK. Firstly, as part of the process a number of companies must be nominated as approved operators from China – and in a free market capitalist economy there is no system for doing this. Secondly, acquiring ADS would mean that Chinese people visiting Europe would no longer just be on state or company sponsored trips – they would pay for it themselves. Mr Jenkins says that in countries granted ADS, like Australia and South Africa, there has often been a decline in tourism following the granting of ADS. But he says China is a growing market so this can be overcome. Thirdly, because the UK is not in Schengen, Europe will essentially be carved into two destinations – requring two different visas to visit. Lastly, Mr Jenkins says that visitors from China are statistically some of the most likely not to return home, which makes the issue politically sensitive. He told TravelMole: “The UK should have been in Schengen years ago. The FCO see it as a triumph that they are not involved in Schengen, which is understandable in the current sensitive climate. “But we have got to have ADS, and there is no doubt of the potential of the Chinese market – it is not an easy market, and there will be a period of transition, but the tourism industry will reap the benefits.”