Travelling in Europe can be a culture shock for Chinese as we have mentioned. It can also be so for the hosts. Managing expectations is equally important for the hotels and service suppliers that engage Chinese tourists.

• The concepts of privacy and space are quite different for Chinese and Westerners. Being loud and nosy is an expression of enjoying oneself and caring for each other, but this might be experienced as rude by Westerners. With such a dense population, Chinese are accustomed to very little personal space and are not used to being on their own.
• Smoking is entrenched in Chinese society as the domain of men. They will find it difficult to accept smoking bans in public spaces. At the same time, they will be puzzled over the prevalence of public smoking amongst women in Europe.
• As China’s history dates back thousands of years, Chinese are not impressed by cultural sites that are ‘only’ a few hundred years old. This is a distinct advantage of Europe over the new world destinations of Australia and North America. The cultural and historical links between China and Europe should be highlighted as much as possible.
• When travelling abroad it is a rare opportunity to experience certain activities that are forbidden in China. Casinos and cabaret shows cause a lot of excitement among visiting Chinese for this reason.
• In China, travel is a service and travel agents are expected to bend over backwards to satisfy their paying customers. In turn, those agents expect their partners in the destination to go along with the client’s demands under any circumstance. The find it difficult to accept the western attitude. What we consider a fair service for a fair price, they would consider inflexibility or lack of caring.
• Because visa approval is still sometimes unpredictable, air tickets and hotels are often confirmed at the last minute. Business people, used to flexible domestic travel, expect to be able to change their plans frequently and therefore do not plan carefully enough to avoid late changes.
• Compared to other nationalities, Chinese groups are never booked months in advance. There is tremendous pressure on travel agents, visa consulates, local suppliers, hotels, guides etc. to provide instant quotations and high quality tours on extremely short notice. Inevitably this often leads to problems on the road and subsequent complaints from the clients. As ADS procedures become the norm and visa application standardised, we expect to see this problem ease.

Travelling is a big deal for Chinese and doubly so when travelling abroad. The freedom to travel to Europe without the need for official permission is the beginning of an era for the tourism industry. Tourism, however, is not a new phenomenon. Under the pretext of business of official delegations, hundreds of thousands of Chinese had visited Europe in the past decade.

The historic background of travelling abroad was often based on “friendly relations” with other countries. Until the late eighties the world was divided in two camps engaged in cold war. During this period China made a clear distinction between friendly nations and adversaries. Officials were allowed to travel abroad only upon official invitation to enhance friendly relations. It was therefore very much limited to officials and seen as a great privilege. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the consequent change in world order and economic reforms in China, outbound travel had moved from being the privilege of officials to a business necessity. As disposable income and leisure time increases, it is now becoming a part of ordinary people’s lives for pleasure and education. However, visiting other countries is still regarded as an exchange of friendship and goodwill.

This cultural background can influence the expectations of Chinese travellers. One often still feels honoured or privileged to travel abroad and expects a corresponding hospitality from the hosts. With the changing times, privileged Chinese visitors are not necessarily received ceremoniously; rather they are often treated as a cash cow. Frequently, the Chinese visitor is disappointed in the level of service and hospitality he/she finds in Europe. To experience Western society first hand is very much a culture shock. Europe is not the hyper-modern society they have expected compared to China which has always depicted itself as backward and poor.

The first groups of travellers to Europe received a great deal of publicity and have set the tone for Europe’s image in Chinese eyes. They view with respect Europeans’ regard for cultural heritage, the environment and personal freedoms. The positive experience often comes from such things as access to casino’s, to luxury goods and visits to famous traditional landmarks like the Eiffel tower and Dutch windmills.

As national tourism boards and tour operators are finally allowed to promote and advertise their tourism products and services, the Chinese consumers will now have unprecedented access to information. This offers a choice on what type of travel they would like and leads to a quick diversification of the market. Although shopping is high on the list, the negative experience of many on high pressure ‘shopping tours’ to Southeast Asia and Australia is slowly changing the priorities. Interest in attractions, museums and nature, variety of accommodation and means of transport will all be expressed by this market in the next few years.

Based on a research by the China Economic Prosperity Inspection Centre in 2002 among 700 Chinese citizens from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, it was surmised that over 60% intend to travel abroad within one year.

Excerpts of the survey:

Do you intend to travel abroad within one year?

Do you intend to travel abroad within three years?

When planning a trip abroad, what do you consider the most important issue?

When planning a trip abroad, what is your main concern?

Source: Huanya Economic Research Institute

A trip to Europe equals roughly the average yearly disposable income of people living in the cities (1,500 Euro). As the cities in China have a population of millions, it goes without saying that quite a few people enjoy an income significantly higher than the average. Economic disparity is extremely high and cause for concern for the Chinese government. Estimates are that about one third of the urban population can afford to travel. Their average daily spending on travelling in Europe is around 300 Euro.

Shopping is one of the highlights of travelling abroad for several reasons. Firstly, Chinese consumers are generally price conscious and consumers of luxury goods typically seek the lowest price if this is easily identifiable. Prices of luxury commodities can be at least 20 to 30 per cent higher in the mainland compared to Hong Kong or Europe as a result of the high import tariffs and consumption taxes.

Secondly, gift giving is an important aspect of Chinese culture. When travelling, they tend to bring back gifts representative of the countries they have visited, often branded products otherwise inaccessible in China. In addition, in the business world buying expensive gifts is a common and accepted practice and is seen as a way to show respect.

Last but certainly not least, despite the recent expansion of most luxury brands, the variety of luxury products available in the Chinese mainland is still limited when compared with Europe. And some brands do not offer their full range of products on the Chinese mainland. This is an additional incentive for the Chinese tourists to buy when travelling overseas.

• Average spending per trip to Australia is almost 3,000 USD per Chinese visitor, compared to 3,600 USD per Japanese visitor and 3,870 USD per American visitor.
• Shopping of luxury goods focuses on jewellery, leather goods, watches, accessories and ready-to-wear.
• Chinese travellers still tend to carry cash, although domestic credit cards are getting popular. most of the foreign destinations now can accept Chinese credit cards.
• Singapore has introduced a visa policy connected to Visa platinum and gold cardholders, they can apply for tourist visa with multiple entries based on their credit card credibility.