Chinese travel giant wants to bring “upscale” tourists to Portugal
Company that owns the Skyscanner platform is identifying national hotels that best fit the characteristics of Chinese tourists
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Trip.com Group, one of the largest travel agencies in the world, wants to send “upscale customers” to Portugal as soon as a pandemic stabilizes, while investing in the country. The position was assumed by the Lusa agency by the executive director, Jane Jie Sun.
“We are very advanced in preparing for recovery [da pandemia] to send customers to Europe and Portugal. Most European countries really want to attract Chinese tourists because the purchasing power is very strong”, stated in Macau.
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The group owns online travel companies such as Skyscanner or Trip.com. Jane Jie Sun explained that, despite the confidence in the recovery, “there is an obstacle that is delaying the arrival of Chinese visitors to Europe: the quarantines on the return home”.
China is practically transparent in its zero covid-19 cases policy and imposes strong border restrictions and high quarantines on those who want to return to the country.
Chinese policy limits travel
The executive director believes that this policy could be changed in 2022, stressing that “everything depends on controlling the virus”. “If we manage to reach or exceed 85% or 90% [de vacinados], if the third dose is effective and the mortality rate is under control, there are possibilities”, he stressed.
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Until then, he guaranteed, the company has a research team exploring places and resorts to respond to the profile of Chinese customers. The inventory is a fact in Portugal. Asked if the group was thinking of investing in Portugal, she replied “of course”.
Portugal promotes itself in China
Proof of the group’s commitment to Portugal was evident with the launch, this month, of a joint campaign with Turismo de Portugal.
In response to Lusa, Turismo de Portugal explained that a campaign “entirely aimed at the digital segment, in particular for mobile devices” is focused “essentially on millennials and genZ and, geographically, privileging itself as the main Chinese cities that send tourists, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, among others”.
The objective, explained Turismo de Portugal, is to “keep Portugal as the ‘top of mind’ of Chinese consumers for when the main trips are possible again”.
According to official data made available to Lusa, “in 2020, as a result of the pandemic context, China was the 13th largest foreign market in terms of guests and 17th in terms of overnight stays for Portugal, with shares of, respectively, 1.5% and 0 , 8%”.
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“In terms of tourist revenue, China was in 18th place with 57.8 million euros, which represented 0.7% compared to the total and a decrease, compared to 2019, of 74.3%”, they reported.
‘Secure’ domestic demand sector in China
While a pandemic is expected to be under control, the company’s focus has been on domestic tourism in mainland China and Macau.
Domestic hotel and airline bookings in mainland China posted double-digit growth in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2019, according to a company statement.
“On Trip.com, from the Trip.com Group, global hotel bookings increased by more than 160% in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the third quarter of 2019,” added the group.