Approximately 113 million Chinese people will travel overseas this year, signalling the return of the world’s largest outbound tourism market. Destinations should be China-ready, and Africa, in particular, needs to step up to share its value.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the return of China’s outbound travel market during WTM, Marcus Lee of the International China Investment Forum said: “China is returning as the world’s largest outbound market. The dragon has been awakened.” But, he added, it was important for destinations to determine how to reach their share of the 113 million people expected to travel from China this year.

Xusheng Wang, director of the MENA region at Best Service, said the Chinese market was used to travelling all over the world, but that Africa would be the next frontier.

“Africa is the future, but there is a lack of understanding of the region. We know it’s amazing, but at the same time, it’s a myth.”

He said the primary destinations in Africa for Chinese tourists were Egypt, because of the ease of connectivity, and Kenya, because of marketing and the availability of direct flights.

He pointed out that the Chinese market was not aware of all the options available across the continent, and destinations and providers needed to do more to promote themselves and raise awareness of their offerings.

Stumbling blocks

Nan Dan, General Manager for Outbound Travel for Xi’an Overseas Tourist, agreed, saying that travellers wanted more information about best times to travel, events and festivals and more.

But, she said, there were a few stumbling blocks for Chinese tourists wanting to access African destinations. The primary issue was visa availability and processing times.

Dan said her visa to travel to South Africa had taken 20 days to process and Lee added that a number of members of a Chinese buying delegation that had hoped to travel to WTM, had not received visas to do so.

Dan also cited safety and Africa being a long-haul destination as challenges in attracting the Chinese market.

“We need to find a way to reverse negative perceptions and tackle issues of destination safety,” she said.

Earlier in the day, Lee said to be “China-ready”, destinations and operators had to be “product and services ready”.

‘Africa is ready’

Bonnie Mbidzo, Acting CEO of the Namibia Tourism Board, said the country was ready to cater for Chinese tourists and had a unique product offering in place. A representative in China had helped to ensure Namibia was an approved market, and that all marketing materials and the organisations’ website were available in Mandarin.

Keitumetse Setlang, Acting CEO of the Botswana Tourism Organisation, said the country had seen an 89% drop in Chinese visitors since COVID, and was now working on wooing them back, with a strong product offering focused on sustainable tourism and Botswana’s natural and cultural assets. She said they were using a mix of professionally translated Mandarin marketing materials, hosting Chinese agencies and wholesalers in-market, and were also in the process of getting approved destination status.

Mbidzo said while individual countries were working towards attracting Chinese visitors, the region needed to work together to market multiple offerings to travellers.

“In the eyes of the Chinese, we are one. We should have a collective approach. We are a long-haul destination, and a ticket to Southern Africa is a huge investment.

“Only if we go into the market as a collective, can we make an impact,” he said, adding that in sub-Saharan Africa, such an offer could include a visit to Namibia’s deserts, Table Mountain in South Africa and the Okavango Delta in Botswana, providing a diverse array of experiences.

On the services front, Lee emphasised “small change, big impact” offerings like WiFi, and the availability of hot water or kettles.

“When we first launched China-ready in Italy, I visited a hotel in Milan than had 80 rooms and only three kettles. By the time we left, all the rooms had kettles,” Mbidzo said.