Published by Colliers International, the data predicts Saudi Arabia will experience the highest proportionate increase in arrivals from China, up 35% on 2016 figures. The UAE will follow at 20%, with Oman at 12% and Bahrain and Kuwait at 7%.
Chinese arrivals to the GCC region will increase 21% to 2021, rising to 2.5 million visitors annually, according to data released ahead of Arabian Travel Market 2018, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22-25.
Published by Colliers International, the data predicts Saudi Arabia will experience the highest proportionate increase in arrivals from China, up 35% on 2016 figures. The UAE will follow at 20%, with Oman at 12% and Bahrain and Kuwait at 7%.
GCC countries currently attract 1.9% of China’s total outbound market, up from 1.3% in 2012, however positive trends are expected to continue as 154 million Chinese tourists prepare to go abroad in 2018 and a predicted 244 million follow in 2022.
Simon Press, senior exhibition director, ATM, said, “The outbound Chinese market represents a vast, untapped pool of affluent and adventurous travellers and the GCC has been a destination of choice for years.”
The Colliers data follows four years of steady growth in Chinese arrivals to the GCC, spurred by the business, leisure and religious tourism sectors.
Chinese travellers today seek unexplored cities and cultures, with GCC governments courting them through roadshows, exhibitions and cultural exchanges. Further supporting this drive, over recent years, regional brands including airlines, hotels and tourism bodies have opened representative offices across China.
Every year, almost 15,000 Chinese Muslims visit the two Holy Cities, and that number will increase as China’s Muslim population grows to account for 2.1% of the total population by 2030. Strengthening these ties, in 2017 Saudi Arabia loaned Arab artefacts from the pre-historic, pre-Islamic and Islamic periods to Chinese museums, further enhancing Chinese awareness of Arab culture.
In 2016 Emirates added to its China network with two new routes to Yinchuan and Zhengzhou, in addition to regular flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Etihad pioneered a code share agreement with China Southern Airlines in 2017 with a reciprocal loyalty programme due over the coming months. The airline also revealed branded livery to tie in with China's 11.11 Global Shopping Festival and announced a points conversion scheme for flyers who shop with e-commerce giant Alibaba.
The 2018 ATM exhibition will host a discussion in the in the Showcase Theatre exploring the opportunities surrounding China’s 500 million millennials, with a presentation hosted by Chloé Reuter, an expert in the Chinese luxury market and founder of Reuter Communications.
On day two of the exhibition the Travel Tech Theatre will host the panel discussion “What Middle East Businesses can do to capture the attention (and wallets) of Chinese luxury travellers”. The panel will be chaired by Chloe and will consist of representatives from Dubai Tourism, Tencent’s WeChat and Emaar Hospitality.
Chinese exhibitors at ATM 2018 will include Guizhou Province and Fuijan Province, Zumata, XML Holiday, DidaTravel, Toursworld, DLC and Bonotel Exclusive.