Schubert Lou travel tips

China’s Trip.com Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Tourism Authority to promote Saudi Arabia as a tourism destination. As part of the collaboration, Trip.com and Saudi Tourism Authority will launch joint marketing campaigns in several markets to drive awareness and attract tourists to Saudi Arabia through Trip.com, Ctrip, Travix, and other travel companies. These markets include Australia, China, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and UK. In addition, both parties will also embark on several capacity-building and knowledge-sharing initiatives in various aspects, including digital payment solutions, sustainability, ticketing, and training. “With Trip.com Group’s market capability and advanced technology, I believe the partnership will encourage and entice more visitors worldwide to Saudi Arabia and further enhance recovery in the global tourism sector,” said Fahd Hamidaddin, CEO of the Saudi Tourism Authority. In November last year, Trip.com Group signed an agreement to promote Qatar across the globe as a family-friendly tourism destination, and an agreement with Abu Dhabi was signed in May 2022. Speaking at the Skift Global Forum East, Trip.com’s Chief Operating Officer, Schubert Lou, said old marketing strategies would not work on the new Chinese traveler. Saudi Arabia had earlier said that it aims to attract 3.9 million visitors from China annually by 2030. In 2019, when Saudi Arabia opened to tourism, the maximum number of tourist visas issued were to Chinese tourists. More than 100,000 Chinese tourists visited Saudi Arabia in 2019.

Marketers beware: Prior ways of marketing to Chinese consumers, including travelers, won’t work as well today because their preferences changed during the pandemic.

Trip.com Group said on Friday it had tapped a $1.5 billion sustainability-linked loan facility, meaning that the financing terms link the debt’s interest rates to the Chinese online travel giant’s performance against specific environmental targets.

The absence of Chinese tourists as countries around the world opened their borders again remains the most impactful development this year. China’s commitment to zero Covid cases dashed the normalcy return hopes of the global tourism industry.

On Wednesday, we published a deep dive into Chinese outbound tourism by Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia. The spark of the story came from a discussion she had in December with Trip.com Chief Operating Officer Schubert Lou at Skift Global Forum East. “The article is an attempt to cut the clutter and talk about how the Chinese tourist has changed and how destinations should approach this change,” Bhutia told me this week. “Also, call it perfect timing, the deep dive came out the day China removed its final Covid-induced hurdle for travel and resumed issuing tourist visas.”

Over 20 percent of Chinese millionaires plan to visit the Middle East in the next 12 months, according to the latest TrendLens report from luxury consulting firm Agility. The report analyzed the survey responses of 315 affluent and 216 high net-worth individuals in China in March and April this year. Those planning overseas leisure trips jumped from 50 percent in 2022 to 75 percent this year. High net-worth individuals expressed a preference for buying beauty, alcohol, watch, and jewelry products abroad in search of better deals. China’s high net-worth individuals and affluent consumers are more confident about their disposable income and investments, and spending on luxury products and experiences like tourism, according to the report. Having welcomed 989,000 Chinese tourists, China was Dubai’s fifth-largest source market in 2019. When Saudi Arabia opened to tourism in 2019, the maximum number of tourist visas issued were to Chinese tourists. More than 100,000 Chinese tourists visited Saudi Arabia in 2019. Following the resumption of outbound group tours for Chinese citizens on February 6, Middle East destinations have been wooing Chinese tourists. Dubai has been actively promoting travel-related campaigns in China and has continued to implement a visa-free policy for Chinese visitors as well as a “China Ready” strategy. With plans to welcome 4 million Chinese visitors by 2030, Saudi Arabia included China in its e-visa program and in the 96-hour stopover visa program that allows guests flying in to the country to avail a complimentary one-night hotel stay. Ahmed Issa, the tourism minister of Egypt had said this year that around 30 million Chinese tourists are interested in visiting Egypt over the next few years. China’s largest online travel agency Trip.com Group has also signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to promote these destinations. Speaking at the Skift Global Forum East in Dubai last year, Trip.com’s Chief Operating Officer, Schubert Lou, said old marketing strategies would not work on the new Chinese traveler.