EXOTIC and far-flung destinations such as Mauritius and Madagascar in the south-west Indian Ocean, and Israel in the Middle East, are becoming more popular with well-heeled travellers from mainland China.

Lisa Zhuge, manager China office of Happy Planet, a Mauritius DMC, said there had been burgeoning demand for Mauritius and Madagascar from the high-end Chinese segment, mostly from tier-one cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, ever since the company opened its Beijing office in 2009.

“Mainland Chinese are looking out for new and exotic leisure destinations. They are tired of the Maldives and Hawaii,” she said.

According to Zhuge, Happy Planet handled about 10,000 Mauritius-bound passengers last year, some of whom extended their itineraries by adding Madagascar, and to a lesser extent, Réunion Island.

Year-to-date, the company has catered to about 8,000 mainland Chinese passengers to Mauritius, a 50 per cent increase over the same period last year.

“They stay an average of four to six nights, in four- to five-star hotels. Their budget is about RMB12,000 (US$1,889) to RMB17,000 per pax, including airfare,” she said.

Zhuge said convenient connections such as Air Mauritius’ thrice-weekly direct services from Hong Kong to Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, and weekly Shanghai-Port Louis flights, which started in July, made the destination more appealing.

Meanwhile, for Israel, arrivals from various parts of mainland China have been growing at an estimated 30 per cent per year since 2009, according to Itay Friedjung, director, Israel government tourist office Beijing of the Israel Ministry of Tourism. The Israel Ministry of Tourism has been hosting Chinese media for familiarisation trips and promoting the destination through Chinese new media platforms.

“Israel is a new destination for the mainland Chinese,” he said.

Mainland Chinese leisure travellers to Israel usually go in groups and stay an average of eight days to enjoy historical and cultural sights. Shopping is also a big draw.

“The diamond center in Israel is popular with this market,” he said, adding that specialty products from Israel, such as Dead Sea cosmetics, are in demand too.

Additional reporting from Amee Enriquez

BEING able to improve on past tourism branding and marketing strategies will be a key factor in China’s efforts to grow its already burgeoning tourism industry, according to travel industry stakeholders and media, communication and advertising experts speaking during the China International Tourism Branding & Marketing Seminar held yesterday.

The seminar featured various national and provincial-level tourism branding and marketing case studies in an effort to pass on best practices and lessons learnt.

Zhu Shanzhong, vice chairman, China National Tourism Administration, said: “With the rapid development of the country’s tourism industry, tourism branding and marketing is more important than ever.

“We may have had some initial success in our efforts to produce tourism branding targeted at international markets, but now we need a coordinated approach towards tourism branding, together with travel industry stakeholders and the mass media.”

Chen Gang, deputy dean, school of journalism & communications, Peking University, agreed. He said: “Even though it seems as though China’s tourism industry has a very bright future, we will lose out in the end if we don’t improve the way we communicate our tourism brand.”

He Haiming, vice director of CCTV advertising centre, added that “there should be strong differentiation for the tourism branding of various provinces” and communication must be “focused and consistent”.

THE INAUGURAL Go China Summit in Suzhou last year generated US$188 million worth of tours to China, according to a survey conducted among tour operators who had participated in the event.

A larger harvest could be expected, as the figure was obtained from only half of the population of participants, noted Mary Motsenbocker, president of Go China Summit, which seeks to showcase tourism products in various destinations in China to overseas buyers.

Motsenbocker expects the second Go China Summit, which started yesterday and ends today, to reel in the same extent of return on investment for mainland China’s tourism sector.

This year’s summit is attended by 75 tour operators from all over the world and at least 134 Chinese tourism suppliers. The programme included a familiarisation tour of Lijiang and Dali in Yunnan province, in addition to tabletop meetings between buyers and sellers.

European buyers at the summit told the Daily that they are eager to find new products for their markets.

Mircea Anitas, manager of Paris-based Sports Incentives Conventions International, which also handles leisure programmes, is looking to package Yunnan for the French market, and possibly combine it with a Singapore trip. His agency sent 400 French travellers to the mainland last year.

Rio de Janeiro-based Marsans Brasil director, Carlos Costa, a first-time participant at the Go China Summit, said he hoped to find companies that could work with him to package cultural and adventure tours in the mainland.

Juergen Kremer, inbound department director of Beijing-based TUI China Travel, which deals with mostly German-speaking markets, said the summit offered invaluable networking opportunities, especially with smaller suppliers.

By Amee Enriquez

MAINLAND Chinese arrivals to the US have grown steadily, with New York, Florida and Las Vegas hailed as popular destinations, according to Haybina Hao, director, international development, NTA, the leading association for professionals serving travellers to, from and within North America.

Hao credited the better approval rate for visas as one of the reasons for the rise in mainland Chinese arrivals.

States like Guam and Hawaii were also seeing better traffic because of their proximity to the mainland and improved direct flight access, she added.

“In Asia, mainland China is the market with the biggest potential in the next three to five years,” Hao predicted.

David Yu, NTA chief representative-China, said that 801,738 Chinese visited the US in 2010. NTA expects the number to exceed 2.6 million by 2016.

The US currently gets mostly leisure tourists from the mainland, who stay an average of up to two weeks. Popular reasons for visiting are shopping, golf, fishing trips and summer camp for students.

“We have also seen an increase in business travellers,” Hao said.

By Amee Enriquez

THE SHANGHAI Municipal Tourism Administration (SMTA) has rolled out its own tourism theme, Classical Shanghai, along with complementary products to strengthen the city’s appeal.

SMTA’s vice chairman, Connie Cheng, said Classical Shanghai supported the national theme of Classical China and allowed the city to further develop its tourism offerings on an individual level.

“We want a new image for Shanghai, especially after last year’s World Expo. We want to promote (Shanghai) as a unique destination, not only for business but also for leisure, focusing on cuisine, culture, shopping and attractions,” she said.

Complimentary products on offer include a new tourism route that takes participants to three counties, covering mountainous terrain in Songjiang, a lake in Qingpu and a famous piece of farmer’s artwork in Jinshan.

“The entire journey takes an average of one to two days, and it is especially popular with the domestic market,” said Cheng.

Other new products include a World Expo museum where various artefacts from the Shanghai World Expo are displayed, as well as the establishment of Yangpu district as the city’s fashion hub.

Promotional efforts in top international source markets include roadshows in Japan, the US, South Korea, Brazil, Cuba, Spain and Germany. There are also plans for roadshows in South-east Asian markets in 2012.

Meanwhile, Shanghai has embarked on joint marketing efforts with Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces to promote the region. Initiatives include joint promotions and roadshows in overseas markets.

MAINLAND China will get much of PATA’s attention in its tourism development plans, which include making the country a top focus of discussion in the association’s new PATA World City Forums and the launch of a PATA China Chapter.

In an email interview with the Daily, PATA’s new CEO, Martin Craigs, said: “PATA is making a new commitment to help our members engage emerging markets and mainland China has been recognised as the most dynamic emerging market, both as a destination and as a source of travellers.”

Craigs explained that the mission of the PATA China Chapter was to “educate the industry on changing trends, assist in business growth for international and domestic organisations doing business and focusing on the mainland as a market, network with industry peers to further collaboration between Chinese and expat members of the Chinese travel and tourism industry, and build a community of tourism professionals in mainland China”.

He said: “PATA is keen to support the mainland at the national, municipality and provincial levels in terms of tourism development and the exchange of best practice information.”

Since the establishment of the PATA China Office in 2007, mainland China membership has grown, along with PATA’s scope of cooperation with its members. Several signature events have been held, including the UNWTO/PATA Forum on Tourism Trends and Outlook (now a permanent event in Guilin), PATA Travel Mart 2009 and 2010 in Hangzhou and Macau respectively, and the PATA 60th Anniversary and Conference in Beijing in April.

He added: “PATA China Office has been providing assistance and support to member organisations, with numerous tourism development projects covering planning, marketing, branding, product development and crisis management, with a particular focus on destinations such as Shanghai, Dalian, Hangzhou and Chengdu.”

It also endorsed events such as Wenzhou Online Network Tourism Festival, Tourism Industry Festivals in Guangdong, Hunan and Guizhou and Beijing’s World Tourism City Federation.