With travel being the preferred leisure activity of over 60% of China’s super rich and with no fewer than 7 500 billionaires, this rapidly expanding travel market presents excellent opportunities for trade specialising in luxury travel. Bradley Brouwer, Regional Manager: Asia Pacific, SA Tourism, says the Chinese market’s focus has shifted from price to quality, and they are willing and able to spend on high-end and prestigious trips.


Speaking at a recent SAT Asia seminar in Cape Town, Brouwer said: “China has a good amount of ‘new money’ going around and they know how to spend it.”

Affluent travellers undertake 3.2 outbound trips per year, while 38% of them list golf as their favourite sport. When the Chinese choose a destination, they consider (in this order): brand reputation, location, transportation, service, star-rating, views, room size, facilities, catering and price.

China is regarded the fastest-growing travel market in the world, thanks to its rising income levels and standard of living, and the lowering of visa restrictions. Chinese tourists were expected to undertake nearly 80m international trips last year, spending US$80bn. It is estimated that this number will grow to 100m overseas trips by 2015. For most, the Internet is their key source of travel information, and despite not having Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo, Youku and Tencent QQ are massive. However, said Brouwer, online communication takes place in Chinese and trade that wants to be part of this conversation would need to employ a Mandarin speaker.

Chinese arrivals to SA, driven by leisure, business and incentive travel, received a significant boost last year when SAA launched its non-stop Johannesburg-Beijing flight. In December, the SAT China office was awarded the 2012 SAT Elite Best International Office of the Year, while Brouwer received the 2012 SAT Elite Chairman’s Award for loyalty, dedication, commitment, numbers, foreign direct spend in SA, and outstanding marketing and branding activities in the Asia Pacific region.

The Chinese travel in groups, with the Chinese New Year (February) and National Day Golden Week (October) being their favourite times for vacation. First-time visitors prefer eight-day packages with non-stop flights, while second-time visitors would opt for 10- to 13-day packages. Brouwer said SA trade could introduce new itineraries to seasoned visitors who would then spread the word back in China.

He cautions strongly against SA travel agents encouraging Chinese travellers to conclude “unofficial” diamond transactions in their hotel rooms in SA. These transactions tarnish SA’s image in China, as travellers often complain afterwards that they had bought substandard diamonds. Agents apparently undercut their competitors radically and then use money made on diamond deals to finance shortfalls. Brouwer’s advice to the trade is not to undercut one another but rather work together and create baseline prices for five-, four-, three-star and backpacker establishments.