EASTERN European countries courting the Chinese market are keen to develop more niche tourism products next year to attract wine and gastronomy aficionados, golfers and wellness travellers from China.

“Educating the travel trade in Eastern Europe on the interest and travel needs of the Chinese traveller will be an ongoing process,” said Zsuzsa Vincze, a representative of the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Economic and Trade Cooperation Network formed last year.

She added: “China is an emerging market for Eastern Europe, and the growth is mainly driven by direct flights from Beijing to Prague, Budapest and Warsaw.

“We would like to encourage more direct flights from Shanghai and Xi’an to fly to Eastern Europe, as that will encourage more arrivals from China,” she said.

Since the launch of Air China Beijing-Budapest services via Minsk on May 1, Vincze told TTG Asia e-Daily that Hungary has enjoyed a 44 per cent year-on-year growth in tourist arrivals from China. There were approximately half million Chinese visitors to Eastern Europe in 2014.

Vincze said the network is educating East European hotels and restaurants to become more Chinese-friendly by rolling out facilities like hot water, free Wi-Fi and Chinese menus.

The network also works closely with China National Tourism Administration to promote tourism between China and Central and Eastern Europe.

According to Vincze, the Chinese counterparts will provide product presentations in Eastern Europe next year to promote different regions in China including Kunming and its surroundings.

Additional reporting by S Puvaneswary

TO BETTER connect with the growing wave of mobile-savvy FITs emerging from China, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has partnered four major Chinese digital players to attract these visitors to the Lion City.

This marks STB’s most comprehensive initiative yet, comprising four first-time partnerships and two new product launches with current partners. First-time partners are Chinese OTAs Alitrip and Tuniu, and social review sites Dianping and Mafengwo.

All of them signed a MoU with STB earlier last month, agreeing to curate and distribute content on Singapore over a period of two to three years to their users.

Meanwhile, existing partners WeChat and Baidu have both rolled out new products. The digital partnerships will feature attractions such as the River Safari and Gardens by the Bay in a new YourSingapore WeChat account, while offerings at the Sentosa HarbourFront precinct will be detailed in a new Baidu Connect service.

Edward Chew, STB’s regional director (Greater China), said: “We are seeing more Chinese FIT visitors in recent years. Besides the need for comprehensive information for trip planning, they also desire real-time useful tips, navigation, payment and translation tools to explore a destination independently.”

Applauding these new partnerships, Joseph Sze, director of China from Siam Express, said: “This (initiave) gives Singapore the first-mover advantage in this aspect because (STB) is the first NTO that has done something so major.

“Chinese travellers are very dependent on their mobile devices and they will (appreciate) the convenience of the real-time information of the travel destinations provided by these digital services,” he said.

Sharing similar sentiments, Michael Chong, manager of global business at Star Holiday Mart, said: “It is good to use different platforms to attract the Chinese so that they will be engaged (with Singapore).”

Nevertheless, the traditional media remains an important outreach channel for industry players. Khoo Shao Tze, chairman of Sentosa Harbourfront Business Association, said: “We still utilise publicity tools through traditional media to access the Chinese market, but if Chinese tourists want to go deeper (into Sentosa as a destination), Baidu Connect will allow that depth.”

Of the 1.7 million Chinese visitors to Singapore in 2014, 80 per cent were either FITs or free-and-easy travellers. China is currently the second largest source market for the South-east Asia country.

ONCE favoured as a classic itinerary for Chinese visitors to South-east Asia, interest in the Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand group tours have significantly dipped in recent years and are increasingly replaced by mono-destination programmes, inbound travel agents in these countries told TTG Asia e-Daily.

Joseph Sze, director of China, Siam Express, said the Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand package was “all the rage” 10 years ago with at least 90 per cent of Chinese tourists opting for it but this has since changed.

He said: “This (multi-country package) is still popular perhaps among Chinese tourists from the second- and third-tier cities (in China), but for repeat visitors they will likely pick just one destination to visit.”

Moreover, memory of the MH370 incident last year – in which the flight disappeared en route to Beijing with 153 Chinese nationals on board – still lingers on the minds of many Chinese, impinging on the market demand for Malaysia.

Said Sze: “There is still a negative impact on overall tourism towards these three countries (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand), so the Chinese would rather go to other countries altogether like Europe or Australia.”

As a result, group series tours to Malaysia dropped by more than half for Tongyan Travel & Tours in the wake of the MH370 incident, said its managing director Albert Tan. Business is “picking up slowly” but it is still not back to 2013 level, he added.

Likewise, Michael Chong, manager of global business at Star Holiday Mart Singapore, which saw Singapore-Malaysia-Thailand bookings decline by almost 80 per cent in the months after the incident, now receives just “a handful of occasional bookings”.

Chong added: “There are still negative feelings after the flight incident as it is still fresh in their memories so I see Chinese choosing (instead) to spend their whole trip in Singapore.”

Whilst Chinese groups “on occasion” opt for two-country tours, usually combining Malaysia and Singapore, said Bangkok-based Asian Trails’ CEO Laurent Kuenzle, the emphasis now is very much on a single country at a time.

He said: “Chinese travellers to South-east Asia focus on mono-destination tours since these are shorthaul destinations where they travel to for four to five days. It’s Thailand stand alone, Malaysia stand alone and Singapore stand alone.”

Adding to this mix is the market shift towards FIT travel as well as intensifying regional competition for the vast Chinese outbound market.

“The trend now is for clients to book online for tours to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand separately,” said Julia Shi, general manager of Diethelm Travel China. “For these three destinations, Chinese prefer to travel with their families and no more with groups.”

Jessica Yong, managing director of Yang Guang Travel & Tours Malaysia, remarked: “Every country is courting the Chinese market, giving outbound players plenty of choices. Japan and (South) Korea are hot favourites because of the weakened currencies.

“Tour prices play an important role. A five-day mono Thailand holiday is cheaper than a Singapore-Malaysia combined package,” she added.

Additional reporting by S Puvaneswary and Michael Mackey