BUILDING strong collaborative ties with Chinese counterparts and raising awareness about Estonia were the two main aims of the Estonian Tourist Board’s nine-day sales mission this week.
The NTO’s market manager for Asia, Helina Andruškevitšus, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “As we don’t know what the Chinese are interested in doing in Estonia, we came up with a diverse range of activities from bear-watching to handicraft workshops. Once we’ve gathered all the travel consultant feedback, we can develop niche products for the market. We can’t take millions of arrivals, so we hope to target specific market, especially nature lovers.”
Visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong earlier this week, the Estonian Tourist Board was joined by seven trade partners including hotels, city tourism boards and travel agencies.
Tallinn-based Baltic Travel Group’s head of group department, Anne Kurgpold, suggested first-time Asian travellers could join group tours. “It gives a better idea of what the destination offers before coming back as FITs as (Estonians) speak English.
“However, the Chinese market hasn’t taken off yet.”
Estonia has planned fam trips for travel consultants this summer and will introduce a new tourism website in two weeks’ time.
The Baltic state welcomed three million tourists in 2014, out of which Chinese travellers accounted for only 12,000, improving 50 per cent year-on-year from the previous year.
