3rd ITB Hospitality Day: Chinese tourists change their travel behaviour
Berlin (February 1, 2008). The Chinese are coming! We have heard this for years now, but not everyone in Europe is preoccupied with the preferences and travel behaviour of the visitors from the Far East. Accordingly, the package tourists from the emerging country have arranged their own travel routes in the meantime: shopping is on the agenda instead of sightseeing, shopping streets and noble brands instead of lakes and mountains. The 3rd "ITB Hospitality Day", the ITB hotel conference that takes place on Thursday, March 6, 2008, will be dedicated to this trend, which is also changing the tourist offers in these parts.
Experiencing brands instead of the actual region is becoming the goal. The outlet city of Metzingen near Stuttgart experiences this day by day: Although the owners of the noble shops do not know when they will come, they do know that they will come. The Chinese prefer travelling in groups and want to be served within only a few hours in a quick and efficient way. And off they go, back to the low-budget hotel or the bus hitting the road for the next shopping destination. The small town of Metzingen deals with more Chinese tourists than most other destinations in Germany - and it adjusts itself to it.
Mega metropolises like Paris that attract even more Chinese due to the simpler visa regulations are devising customised services for this target group that likes to spend money even in top-level addresses such as Galerie Lafayette. The management knows: this business is not a one-way street. Sometime in the future, there will probably be a Galerie Lafayette in China - and the brand will then be familiar right from the beginning.
Here, the Nuerburgring has already experienced such a development. The Chinese love fast, zippy cars. And they love to test these HP monsters on the racing track in Western Germany. The Nuerburgring is very famous in Asia, mainly in Korea and Japan. Individual Asian car manufacturers even produce special "Nuerburgring" cars.
In the meantime, the second generation of Chinese travels to Europe, and therefore destinations need to learn the difference between first-time visitors and package tourists and frequenters, who are increasingly interested in the individual culture and European food.
Competent panellists will contribute lots of details to this and many other aspects revolving around the travel behaviour of Chinese visitors in Europe. The 3rd Hospitality Day will start off with the panel discussion called "Destination Marke: 'Brands' entwickeln sich zu neuen touristischen Zielen" ("Brands as destinations: 'Brands' becoming new tourist goals"). Prof. Dr. Monika Echtermeyer, expert for outbound tourism China at the International University of Applied Sciences of Bad Honnef-Bonn, could be won over for moderation.
Wolfgang Bauer, Managing Director of Holy AG, the biggest shop rental company of Metzingen, will take part on behalf of the outlet city Metzingen. Dr. Walter Kafitz, Managing Director of Nuerburgring GmbH, will tell us about his experiences and the new orientation of the racing track for new target groups. Marcel Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of TUI China Travel Co. Ltd., will be able to contribute interesting facts as a "wanderer between the worlds".
The panel discussion will take place on Thursday, March 6, 2008, from 10:30 am to 11:30 am in Hall 7.1a, room "New York 3". Please find the entire day programme at http://www1.messe-berlin.de/vip8_1/website/MesseBerlin/htdocs/www.itb-kongress/de/Kongressprogramm/EDB-ProgrammDetails/index.jsp?amp;fairID=50201&eventDateId=
51528&eventBundleId=51531&lang=de.
hospitaltyInside.com is a media partner of this conference and will be responsible for the content. / red
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