Good Morning. As international borders reopen and tourism begins to ramp up, China’s doors remain stubbornly closed as Beijing sticks with its zero Covid policies. In this week’s Face-to-Face interview, Dr. Wolfgang Arlt, founder of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute, tells us that despite the lengthy absence from the world tourism scene that he’s confident the will to travel demand remains strong with the Chinese people. However, they will be looking for a different type of experience and Asia’s IRs need to adapt their offerings. Dr. Arlt will participate in a workshop on Asia travel reopening at the ASEAN Gaming Summit in Manila on Monday 25th, July.
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AGB Intelligence
FACE-TO-FACE
China reopening lags, but travel demand still seen intact
China’s reopening to the world is lagging all other countries as Beijing sticks with its zero-Covid policies, but sooner or later the government will have to allow the people to travel again, argues Dr. Wolfgang Arlt, founder of the Chinese Outbound Tourism Research Insitute (COTRI). In this week’s Face-to-Face, Dr. Arlt tells us that Chinese tastes have shifted since the beginning of the pandemic and Asia’s IRs will need to adapt their offerings accordingly. They also need to move away from targeting China as a single market and recognize that experiences between the older and younger generations are widely different.
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