Chinese travellers are looking for something new!

Helsinki 1.9.2011 Eija TynkkynenHead of Trade Center Finpro Beijing

eija.tynkkynen@finpro.fi

Finpro’s Global Network

Date 2© Finpro

Finpro Kiinassa – Finpro in China

Finpro PekingEija Tynkkynen ja Finpron tiimissä 8• Kumppanit: Tekes, Suurlähetystö, ministeriöt, yritykset, FBCB, EUCCC, EUn Kiina delegaatio ym Peking-Tianjin-Dalian / Pohjois-Kiina

Finpro ShanghaiJari Makkonen ja Finpron tiimissä 7• Kumppanit: Tekes, Pääkonsulaatti, yritykset, IIF, VTT, FECC, FBCS ym• Finchi – Suomen innovaatiokeskusSuur-Shanghai / Yangtse joen suisto

Finpro Guangzhou ja Finpro Hong KongJari Seilonen ja Finpron tiimissä 7• Kumppanit: Pääkonsulaatit, yritykset, FBCGZ, Suomen kauppakamari Hong Kong ym Helmijoen suisto / Etelä-Kiina

Finpron Kiinan toimistojen yhteystiedotwww.finpro.fi/finpro-maailmalla/kiina

Eija Tynkkynen CV

eija.tynkkynen@finpro.fi

Position• Head of Trade Center , Finpro Beijing China

International Experience• 12 years in Asia, 3 years in US, 4 yrs in Europe• China, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Singapore,

Vietnam, Philippines, USA, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Sweden, Finland

Industry Sector Experience• Travel, airlines business

• ICT, information communication technology

• Mobile operations, VAS, digital media, media

• Software and services for enterprise, industrial, machinery, travel, education, HR, health

• Consumer goods, retail sector

Expertise Areas• Asia – over 25 years• I have worked in Travel Industry over 10 years

• Management and business operations • Team development and leadership in multicountry

organisations• Strategy and value proposition planning and

implementation• Market entry and channel development• Partnerships and alliances• Workshop facilitator, idea generation

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China & fast changing economy

Income over 40,000 rmb, 4,000 euros

China in 2015Income over 25,000 rmb, 2 500 euros

• Average income is still low. However, there are in

Beijing 170 000, Guangdong 157 000 and Shanghai 132 000

euromillionares• Wealth is mostly concentrated on

China’s coastal areas.

Source: Economist Intelligence report May 2011

• Largest country in the world by population: 1,3 billion citizens.• Second largest country in the world by land cover.• Second largest economy in the world after the United

States, however regional differences are considerable.

Examples of GDB

Peking Kaupunkitaso

Väestö 17 000 000

BKT/hlö 20 800 USD

Examples of China’s administrative areas by GPD in 2010, population and GDP per person.

Guangdong Provinssitaso

Väestö 98 000 000

BKT/hlö 12 000 USD

Sichuan Provinssitaso

Population 81 000 000

BKT/hlö 5 500 USD

Shanghai Suur-Shanghai

Väestö 81 000 000

BKT/hlö 23 000 USD

Source: Economist I Q1 2011

China’s Outbound Tourism

• In the 1980’s China started lifting brarriers for outbound travel to Hong Kong, Macao and Thailand for the purpose of visiting relatives

• Self-paid international tourism was not allowed until 1990

• Today Europe is the second biggest destination for international travel, behind Asia-Pasific

• Europe receives four times more visitors than the rest of the regions like Americas, Middle-East and Africa combined

• Today France is the most popular destination for Chinese visitors in Europe, although numbers are in steady decline > interest to new

• Chinese visits to Europe´: – 4,3 million in 2010 – annual rise of 10% expected– 2011: 42 million / 55 billion USD

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012f 2013f 2014f 2015f25

35

45

55

65

75

85

Departures (million)

Expenditure (billion USD)

International Tourism Expenditure of Residents and International Departures

Source: BMI China tourism report Q3/2011

Chinese Tourism in Finland

• In 2010 Finland received 73 000 Chinese visitors, who spent 36 million euros (490 per person) .

• 42 percent was travelling for business and 43 percent as tourists.

• The average stay was six days and every third trip was a package deal.

No overnight

stay24%

1-3 nights45%

4-14 nights19%

At least 15 nights12%

Time spent in Finland by Chinese travellers

Most Chinese travellers stay in Finland for 1-3 nights while 24 are on a day-trip.

Source: MEK travel statistics and studies 2010

Case #1: Australia

• Australia and Finland:– both try to attract Chinese tourists with similar images: nature,

clean air and the outdoors

• Distance from Sydney to Guangzhou is 7400 km, Helsinki to Beijing 6300 km

• There are more direct flights between Beijing and Helsinki than Beijing and Sydney. In Chongqing Finland also has an advantage when Finnair starts direct flights (early 2012)

Australia and Finland use same images in tourist promotion: clear sky, nature, sunshine, clean water. Australia, like Finland, has the same page for all regions and languages.

• Half a million Chinese spent

3,3 billion USD in Australia.• All 6,2 million tourists to Finland

spend 2,9 billion USD

Case #1: Australia

• Tourism is the third largest export industry in Australia (domestic travel and inbound travel), behind coal and iron

• Chinese are the fourth largest nationality by volume (half a million visitors annually), but spend the most of any nationals

• 3,3 billion USD, 6600 USD per person in 2010

• In June 2011 Australia launched a new 10-year strategy:• Chinese visits target to grow to 860 000 • spending to 9,5 billion USD by 2020

Tourism Australia opened their first China office in 1999. Today there are offices in 13 cities. In 2020 there will be offices in 24 cities.

Current Tourism Australia offices from the north: Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Chongqing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Shenzhen.

Case #2: A Good Story

• China is full of stories and even children know stories from the ancient dynasties.

Above’Guest Welcoming Pine’, below ’Monkey Watching the Sea’

• You could say that ”every stone in China has a story”: the biggest attractions in the major tourist destination of Yellow Mountain are the ’Guest Welcoming Pine’ and ’Monkey Watching the Sea’.

• China’s perhaps most famous willow tree is located in Cambridge, England. The tree was immortalized by a Chinese poem written in 1928 by Xu Zhimo. Today Chinese flock to see it while tourists from other countries pass by without turning their heads.

Case #2: A Good Story

• Zhongdian county in Yunnan, near Tibet was unattractive to tourism until 2001 when it changed it’s name to Shangri-La

• This marketing strategy proved succesfull– today the county attracts 4 million tourists annually, of which 95

percent are Chinese

• Despite being in one of the harshest and most difficult areas to reach in China, domestic tourism is booming and new hotels are being built Songzanlin Monastery,

Shangri-La

The monastery is the largest buddist monastery in the province of Yunnan. The city has strong Tibetan influence and is situated near the border to Tibet.

Case #3: Internet

• Chinese use word of mouth and the internet to find information about travel destinations

• Besides giving travelers good experiences, Finland needs to have visibility and reliable information in the Chinese internet

Chinese language websites and social mediaThe first website (other than advertisement) that comes up when searching in Baidu, China’s Google is Xinxin Lüyou 欣欣旅游 , or Happy Travel

”’I finally believe that Finland is a country of thousand lakes, and in the lakes so many small bays. It’s everywhere covered by forests and hills, the islands are like the stars in the sky’. This is what Guo Moruo wrote when in the 1950’s he was visiting Finland, a country which has one third of it’s area inside the Arctic Circle. - - ”

Main destinations: ”Helsinki Rovaniemi”

Main attaractions:”Suomenlinna, The Cathedral, Icebreaker Sampo, Santa Claus Village - - ”

Case #3: Internet

• Chinese (and other Asians) need different information and different layout for their web experience

• Consider the Chinese website on the previous page compared with Visit Finland below. The outlay here is very ’Finnish’ compared to the Chinese website

• A study by MEK (Finnish Tourist Board) found out that Finland has a good image in the Chinese netisphere:

• Main topics raised were sauna, Northern lights and train travel

• The Chinese are looking for very detailed information: for example what kind of suitcase is best in winter conditions

• Weather and clothing is another important topic

Chinese language page of Visit Finland www.visitfinland.fi

What do Chinese say?

”Water boiler in the hotel room is important.

Of course every place can’t have Chinese language, but sometimes

it’s difficult to order food with only English text and no pictures, even for people who are fluent in

English.”

”Cities are not Finland’s strong point. The real thing is nature: lakes, forests and

picking strawberries by yourself.”

”

Source: Finpro China in July 2011: based on our interviews. All participants have visited Finland at least once.

”Common people don’t have many chances to go abroad. When they travel they want to go to as many places as possible. For this kind of

group Finland is not the ideal destination.” ”Chinese like stories

behind buildings and events. Even if they’re not true; like mythological stories. Chinese

would like their tour guides to know these stories.”

”My daughter was very happy. Finland is good for children, they can play

freely outside. There’s more space and grass, it’s safe compared to other

European countries.”

”Winter activities and destinations: ice

swimming, smoke sauna, Santa Claus, snowmobile.”

Understanding Chinese

• Usually Chinese tourists like to see as much as possible. This means over-night trains and lots of activities. o Sauna is an important experience, but if preferably combined with another

activity, like a barbecue.o Simply walking on a frozen lake or cooking Finnish food might be the highlight of

the trip.

• For most Chinese it is still desirable to see as many countries as possible, and partly for this reason Luxembourgh is popular. o Make the three nations border between Finland, Sweden and Norway a

destination for foreigners.

• Chinese people love stories and ancient mythology. o Tell them about Kalevala: how and where it happened and they’ll take the book

home with them (in Chinese).

• Chinese like ”to shop” o Because of recent history, Chinese tourists generally like to ”sleep cheap, shop

expensive”.

Understanding Chinese

• Europe is the dream destination for many Chinese. After they have seen Eiffel and Pisa towers they need something else. o This is the group Finland needs to target.

• Make special arragements targeted at Chinese.o Harrods in London: Chinese speaking staff and 75 Union Pay ATM’s. o Chinese need service, but are also willing to pay for it.o Consider the different eating habbits. This does not necessarily mean Chinese food, but

simply Finnish food that is served from one large plate for the whole table.o Make it possible for Chinese to spend time as a group and remember that even adults

love games.

• Finland needs to be visible in China and the Chinese internet. o Word of mouth is important, but can’t be the only form of marketing for Finland.

• Consider if Finnair’s unique status in Chongqing will open opportunities. o Are there people in central China who want to travel to Finland, or are they still planning

their first trip to Paris?

How Finpro can help?

• We are trusted cooperation partner • Finpro is permanently present in China

– Local knowhow and networks, 4 own locations– We understand China and Finland and companies, industry expertice

• Finpro as a coordinator and good ”base” in China – E.g. Finchi in Shanghai

• Interviewing and finding answers from the market

• Helping to understand deeper Chinese needs and chinese travellers

• Participating in new concepts and products planning, building and testing. Both in China and Finland• Finpro Navigator services

Chinese investors are active

”…Chinese tycoon seeks to buy a piece of land in Iceland..… develop ecoturism site…

There are opportunities!

• Winter travel is a good product to Chinese• June-August escapes from hot big cities • Chinese holidays longer

– Chinese New Year mid Jan-Feb, July-August, National Day holiday in early October

• Good Finland know how already among selected travel agengies in Beijing, Shanghai, – This network could be further utilised and enlarged

• Chinese travellers needs are changing– More travel experience, well educated– From many countries to e.g. C-Trip: ”10days = 2 countries”

• Strong trend:

– Chinese individual travelling is growing

to the side of traditional group tours

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Xie Xie – Thank You - Kiitos!