Turning the Chinese onto Britain

TravelMole guest comment by David Brown, vice president of sales operations at Gullivers Travel Associates  (gta)

The Chinese market could be one of the keys to the UK travel industry’s longer term fortunes. But only if it adapts its proposition to a very specific taste.

gta was honoured to host the first Approved Destination Status (ADS) group of Chinese tourists to the UK last summer and, despite the time, cost and inconvenience for Chinese tourists associated with obtaining a UK visa, we anticipate the number of groups will double this year.

gta’s experience of hosting thousands of Chinese tourists in the UK has enabled us to draw a very clear portrait of the behaviours and preferences of these visitors. If the UK travel and tourism industry is to capitalise on this market, we’ve learned we need to understand and cater for a very specific taste. 

Chinese tourists prefer large modern hotels with spacious rooms – at reasonable rates – and enjoy home familiarities such as Chinese breakfast – noodles and rice porridge. A member of Mandarin-speaking reception staff, plus Chinese signage, makes a great difference. Hotels in London’s Docklands fit the bill but we see an opportunity for an enterprising UK-wide chain to meet these needs.

This audience knows what it likes and likes what it knows. We have quickly realised Chinese tourists visiting the UK prefer to eat almost exclusively at Chinese restaurants. We make sure they experience at least one ‘English’ meal – with some interesting reactions to steak and kidney pie! 

Typical itineraries take in the UK’s ‘top ten’ incorporating two or three days in London, or three to five days travelling from Windsor to Oxford via Edinburgh and the Lake District – usually by private coach, accompanied by a bilingual tour escort. 

Other more unusual requests include Karl Marx’s grave in Highgate Cemetery and the Clarks’ shoes outlet at Bicester Village (outside Oxford) is always a highlight, in addition to the big department stores where designer labels such as Burberry are very popular. We’ve been arranging bi-lingual personal shoppers for our more affluent groups, which have been a great success. Chinese visitors spend an average of £60 a day on gifts.

Our offices in China and the UK are working very closely together to ensure we  understand this unique group of travellers and create itineraries that include  London, take a route through the Lake District, York and Scotland, to give a more rounded impression of the UK.