Tapping Chinese tourists’ potential won’t come for free
The global economy is undergoing major realignments and nations and governments are having to rethink their future. China, for instance, has now surpassed the UK and become the world’s fourth-largest economy, creating new opportunities as well as challenges for Greece. The Asian giant’s gross national product grew to $2.26 trillion in 2005, against the UK’s $2.02 trillion. China’s growth rates have averaged 10 percent over the last three years; at such a dizzying pace, it is bound to surpass Germany and Japan before long. And its growth rates look likely to remain high, given that two-thirds of these figures are now accounted for by investment. Most nations, including the USA, whose economy will remain the world leader for many years to come, are trying to benefit from China’s fast economic growth, either in the form of exports or by attracting tourism from there. They all want a bite from Beijing’s big apple. Greek shipowners saw the awakening of the Far East giant early and are now pulling in great sums from the transport of goods to and from China. In turn, the Greek economy is benefiting from the prosperity of the Greek merchant navy; shipping receipts have become the country’s largest source of earnings for the balance of payments, about $11-12 billion annually. The question is what the rest of the economy is doing, and indeed, what the government is doing. Tourism is Greece’s second-largest foreign exchange earning sector. What can our tourism industry gain from China? I read that the rising Chinese middle class (about 200 million out of a total of 1.3 billion) has very high incomes, allowing it to consume and travel. Chinese tourists visiting Europe alone are more than 22 million annually and, what’s more, are big spenders, estimated to spend about 300-350 euros each daily. At that rate they surely rank among the world’s most free-spending tourists. Last week our prime minister was in China and spoke of the great potential for increasing our exchanges in tourism and exports of Greek products such as olive oil. But how is this going to be done? What public or private agencies are going to shoulder the cost of the related initiatives? We should shed any illusions: Without spending some we will not be able to generate any revenue from tourism. Advertising is necessary, no doubt, but it is not enough. A hotelier friend from Alexandroupolis sent me a letter he received from the commercial section of the Turkish Embassy, inviting him to visit the international expo for hotel equipment in Istanbul, February 21-26. «The organizers will cover the accommodation expenses of one representative from each company for five nights in a five-star hotel, including transfers to the airport and the expo area. Additionally, in case the company representatives decide to travel on Turkish Airlines, they will enjoy a discount of 25 percent,» said the letter. This is how business is done! Let then our Tourism Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, in cooperation with our big hoteliers, invite and host 200-300 Chinese travel agents. And let the government and the hoteliers create a charter airline – as a joint venture – that will connect Athens with Beijing non-stop. Such money would be well invested.
