The Chinese 'grand reopening': tourism prepares for the return of the greatest traveler on the planet

The largest population movement occurs every year around this time in China.

Millions of citizens return home, from other parts of the country or from abroad, on the occasion of the celebration of the Lunar New Year, which in 2023 begins this Sunday.

And many take advantage of the fact that it is a holiday for one or two weeks to travel abroad for a few days, especially in Asia and Europe.

The pandemic paralyzed everything, but Beijing's decision to reopen the borders in January after three years of isolation will gradually revive tourist activity during 2023, a year in which global tourism aspires to recover the normality that the covid- 19 blew up.

The impact on tourism of the

—as some have baptized the end of the harsh restrictions imposed on the Asian giant during the last 33 months— has been one of the topics present this week at the International Tourism Fair (Fitur), held in Madrid.

There are high expectations about the effect that the return of Chinese travelers will have.

There will also be, in addition, more Spaniards traveling to China again, an almost non-existent destination since March 2020. "Now it is only necessary to present a PCR to enter the country," says one of the employees of the China stand at Fitur, sitting next to a poster announcing the festival of Chinese gastronomy that is celebrated this month in the capital on the occasion of the entrance of the Year of the Rabbit.

The long quarantines are over.

Tourism from China has a very limited weight in Spain.

In 2019, before the pandemic, only 699,000 travelers arrived from the Asian country, 0.8% of the record of 84 million tourists that the country received.

But the cost per traveler was very high: about 2,500 euros per visitor three years ago, more than double that of the British (965 euros) and Germans (1,077 euros), and longer stays, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics.

Before the pandemic, it was common to see a group of Chinese travelers leaving a department store in the center of Madrid loaded with shopping bags from luxury brands and getting on the bus that was waiting for them on the street.

The polls showed that a large majority declared themselves willing to return to Spain.

One of the Fitur pavilions, the fair held this week in Ifema (Madrid).Santi Burgos

“The Chinese visitor likes shopping and is very prepared, very aware of trends, especially in technology: he wants to pay for the purchase with the payment methods he knows and

what he will find in the store is clearly explained in the

;

it is very practical”, explains Elena Foguet, head of the Value Retail business in Spain, the group that owns the Las Rozas Village (Madrid) and La Roca Village (Barcelona) shopping centers, which have a large number of international customers (they accounted for 50 % in 2019).

Value Retail has nine other centers around the world, two of them in China.

"We view the recovery of the sector very positively and the reopening of China will provide another boost," says the manager.

The impact on global tourism of the reopening of China will be considerable, considering that it was the world's largest source of tourism before 2020, with a total of 154 million international travelers and spending of 254.6 billion dollars in 2019, 17% of the world total, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

"The withdrawal of travel restrictions in China is a significant step for the recovery of the tourism sector in Asia and around the world," the agency said in a statement released after the reopening of the Asian country.

The main destinations before the pandemic were in Asia (Hong Kong and Macao, and the closest countries above all) and, outside the region, Russia, Canada, Italy, Turkey, the United Kingdom, France and Spain.

"In the short term we expect a strong rebound in Asian destinations,"

Add.

Everything will depend on the availability and cost of plane tickets, and the restrictions imposed in other countries on travelers arriving from China (in Spain and other EU countries a PCR is requested).

Mainland Chinese tourists visit the ruins of Macau's St. Paul's Cathedral on January 18.Kanis Leung (AP)

It remains to see also the evolution of the Chinese economy and consumption to know to what extent the citizens of the Asian country can afford to go on vacation to distant destinations.

40% say they do not plan to visit abroad this year despite the reopening, especially for economic reasons, according to a survey conducted at the beginning of January by Dragon Trail International.

The Asian country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3% in 2022, the second worst data since 1970, and consumption is declining.

For 2023, the growth forecast improves, with an increase of close to 5%.

Experts expect China's return to be the last push for full recovery in 2023. According to the latest UNWTO data, more than 900 million tourists made international trips in 2022, double the number in 2021, although that number remains still at 63% of pre-pandemic levels.

In Spain, progress has been stronger: after the two tough years of 2020 and 2021, last year 85% of foreign tourist arrivals (71.5 million) recovered compared to 2019, despite the escalation of inflation, the increase in costs and the rise in mortgages, which have reduced the purchasing power of homes and companies.

Thus, the number of annual arrivals in Spain has grown by 70% in the last decade, while total spending has risen by 65% ​​since 2012, according to the INE.

Attracting Asian tourists is part of the sector's strategy in Spain to move its offer towards visitors with higher purchasing power, tourism that offers sun and sand, but combined with a cultural, urban and gastronomic offer.

The NH group is one of the many companies seeking to achieve more customers from Asia.

"Our goal was to have between 5% and 10% Asian clients in 2020, but the pandemic paralyzed those plans," explained the CEO of NH Hotel Group, Ramón Aragonés, in Fitur.

Another business is the sale of trips for Spaniards to Asia, a continent that before the pandemic was one of the favorite destinations.

"Last year, the trips by Spaniards were mainly domestic, considered safe destinations, and I think that long distance is going to recover more slowly," explains Tomeu Bennasar, CEO of the tour operator Soltour Travel Partners.

“In general, 2023 is going to be unknown, for the moment it is going very well, but we will see what happens this summer,” he warns.

Price of plane tickets

The price of tickets is one of the great obstacles to the recovery of tourist trips from long-haul countries.

The cost of fuel, the impact of the dollar and the lower supply of flights - airlines anticipate their capacity months in advance and it is difficult to quickly adjust to a sudden change in demand - have skyrocketed ticket prices.

According to Bennasar, rates are normalizing with America, but it remains to be seen how Asia evolves.

In China, the supply of international returns is only 13% of pre-pandemic levels, according to data firm VariFlight, while activity in the domestic market is fully recovered.

The absence of tourism from China and especially from Russia due to the war has been offset in Spain by the increase in arrivals from other countries, especially America.

Although the majority of tourists come from the United Kingdom, Germany and France, the growth of tourists from Mexico stands out: overnight hotel stays of travelers from that country have grown by 17.6%, according to data from Exceltur, which brings together the big companies in the sector.

“For more than six years we have detected this trend of more arrivals from America;

In the center of Las Rozas, for example, the customer from Latin America has grown by 150% in 2022 compared to the previous one and 250% from the United States”, explains Elena Foguet.

The next objective of the sector: to recover Asia.

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