By A. Tsimplakis
[email protected]
The Greek tourism sector’s continuing efforts to attract more Chinese tourists hinge, according to experts, on increasing the scope and number of so-called “Chinese-friendly” holiday packages and infrastructure.
Although some 120,000 Chinese holiday-makers were recorded as visiting Greece in 2015, the goal is to double that figure by 2020, or so relevant state and sector groups maintain. In terms Europe as a whole, an impressive figure of 23 million Chinese tourists is expected to visit the continent by 2025, with Greece obviously vying for a greater share of the figure.
Based on the most recent figures, Chinese tourists, on average, enjoy overseas holidays of between six to eight days, spending an average of 3,000 euros per person. Excluding air fare, the figure is between 1,500 and 2,000 euros for hotel accommodations and shopping.
In terms of ensuring a “Chinese-friendly” vacation, the Feel Like Home company, for instance, rates businesses using a “five-dragon” system, beginning with the lowest rating (one dragon) for businesses that at least have information on their website in Chinese. The rating is also accompanied by a “FLH Accredited” stamp. A “five dragon” rating, the highest, requires, among others, that a business field at least one employee that speaks perfect Chinese.
Other Chinese-friendly amenities, beyond website information in Chinese, are electrical sockets (in hotel rooms) that accommodate appliances used in mainland China, menus and brochures in Chinese, a tea set in every room with at least three varieties that are ubiquitous to the Chinese consumer, an employee that speaks Chinese and even hot water for consumption.
The challenge for the Greek tourism sector, and for the global sector by extension, is to attract what is expected to be an exponentially increasing market, given that of China’s 1.4 billion residents only five percent at present retain a passport.
According to the World Economic Forum much laxer travel restrictions and an increase in disposable incomes generated 67.5 million overseas trips by Chinese citizens in 2014. At present, Chinese tourists produces 13 percent of tourism revenues, with Asian and Pacific destinations preferred.
In terms of Greek destinations, Mykonos and Santorini are the preferred choices for Chinese holiday-makers, according to Nikos Kavoulis, the head of Feel Like Home operations for the Mediterranean and Middle East. He points to the international promotion and exposure that the two islands enjoy as resulting in this preference.
