Australian Tourism and Hotel Providers Gear Up for Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is around the corner and Australian tourism and hotel operators are gearing up to offer the best services to incoming Chinese visitors. According to the Australian Financial Review, all are confident that spending by Chinese tourists in Australia will surpass last year's $548 million.
As part of this year's China-Australia Year of Tourism (CAYOT), 6 Chinese airlines now operate direct flights between Australia and China and opened new routes departing from 2nd-tier cities, a move expected to result in a major increase in Chinese tourists arrivals over the next few months. "Chinese New Year is a hugely important holiday and a period that traditionally provides a boost to our arrivals figures." says Tourism Australia chief executive John Sullivan,
To better cater to the growing Chinese clientele, AccorHotels Australia has for instance created their China Optimum Service Standard back in 2011, providing tailor-made offerings for Chinese tourists staying in one of their hotels. Two of the most popular initiatives implemented as part of the standard inlcude offering congee on breakfast buffets and leaving welcome kits translated in Mandarin in each room.
This year the group is eager to work on other incentives to appeal to a new category Chinese visitors: "The biggest shift we've seen over the past year has been more Chinese tourists seeking a higher quality experience," says Kate Marshall, director of sales, international, for AccorHotels Australia. According to her, young, independent Chinese travellers "(...) want to go back to China with a bragging experience" and are reluctant to buy packaged group tours.
Click here to access the full article on the Australian Financial Review. (paywall)
