Members of the African Travel & Tourism Association (ATTA) are being called on to develop more niche holiday packages and to help raise awareness about Africa’s diverse product line-up in preparation for China’s big international travel restart.

According to the Chinese Tourism Academy, 800 000 Chinese tourists visited Africa in 2018, while specialists in FIT and small group travel based in China have reported a significant increase in demand in the past five years. But borders have been shut due to COVID-19 restrictions since early 2020, stalling progress.

In a recent ATTA webinar, panellists described “two decades of high-speed growth” during a special sales webinar, which it hosted last week to help identify opportunities and challenges when borders reopen.

Although the Chinese were travelling in much greater numbers before the pandemic, ATTA’s market specialists said that low awareness and a narrow understanding of Africa as a destination (noting that most travellers only know about the continent’s wildlife migrations) were two of the main challenges.

The panel also hopes to see more direct flight routes between China and Africa when borders reopen.

Customer behaviour

China is regarded as one of the most valuable markets in the world in terms of traveller numbers and spending. According to figures presented by China World Travel, Chinese travel spend was more than US$254bn in 2019.

China World Travel MD, Lin Yu, said Africa attracted mostly high-nett-worth travellers, with demand for many different destinations pre-COVID-19, including Kenya and Tanzania (two of the most popular destinations), South Africa, Namibia, as well as Mozambique, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda.

According to Yu, Chinese nationals can now visit nearly 30 African countries without needing to apply for a visa before travel, which she applauded for making travel “much more convenient”.

Travel World China also offers marketing guidance and support for travel businesses and market representation in China, and Yu sketched a comprehensive customer profile for Atta’s members. She said:

• Customers value their safety and “friendly locals”;
• 95% of customers book stays of seven days or more;
• Chinese travellers mostly travel in groups (small and large); and
• 64% of travellers who visited Africa before COVID-19 were female.
• Based on Ctrip’s booking data (Ctrip is China’s top OTA) there was a 70% year-on-year increase in Africa-related bookings in the first seven months of 2018; and
• Africa saw the biggest increase in interest (up 15%) from Ctrip customers between 2017 and 2018.
• Chinese travellers tend to travel over peak national holidays, such as the annual Golden Week at the beginning of October and the Lunar New Year, typically late January or early February. Yu said this made the market “predictable”.
• Before the pandemic, 59% of travellers had visited Africa on a packaged tour; and 41% of arrivals in Africa chose to travel as FITs. Almost 30% of visitors travel as a couple – many on honeymoon – and 28% travel with family. Solo travel is still fairly limited.
• Younger Chinese travellers are used to mobile payment gateways; and
• The number of direct flights between China and Africa is limited and there are not many frequencies on international routes at the moment.
• Price was a destination choice factor for 34% of travellers, according to the China Outbound Tourism Institute. Beautiful and unique scenery was a factor for 56% of travellers mentioned in the same research.

Because of COVID-19, Yu said travellers were generally more cautious. The panel expected that this would still be an issue for future Chinese travellers.

Meanwhile, the High-End China Tourism Alliance, which represents 300 members, has pledged to grow awareness about Africa’s diverse product range in emerging markets and smaller cities. Founder and President, Wang Zhenhai, said he hoped to see more Chinese travellers “fall in love” with the continent.

According to Zhenhai, the majority of Chinese international travellers who visit Africa tend to come mostly from larger cities such as Shanghai and Beijing.

Yu reiterated that Chinese visitors are likely to be “very experienced and well-off travellers”.

She said: “They see Africa as a last-frontier destination… they treat travel like a social currency and are eager to explore a part of the world that their friends have not been to.”

What motivates a trip to Africa?

According to the experts, Chinese travellers’ top interests when they visit Africa include wildlife, hiking and trekking, and ancient and archaeological sites. Wine tasting and casinos are some of South Africa’s top attractions.

A representative for Travel World China added: “All of this gives us an idea of the opportunities for the African travel trade. Ultimately, we know that these travellers are high-nett-worth individuals. They have already travelled but see Africa as a last-frontier destination. If you can [market and package for] these high-nett-worth markets, the potential is huge.”

Zhenhai ended with a warning that many customers still have questions about cultural differences when they visit Africa. Zhenhai believed this could also be overcome with product training. “Africa really is very beautiful [but] a lot of people are very afraid of your food! They don’t know that the food in the lodge is fantastic, that you have many brilliant airlines and so nice people (sic). We need more marketing material to increase visibility and [differentiate] product, as well as more presentations [hosted] together in different cities,” he said.

Yu also addressed misconceptions about Africa, noting: “There is still a lot of work to be done to educate the market about what Africa is actually like. They (visitors) have had no experience and little exposure about the market, [which] would point to more promotion and awareness [necessary] for the destinations to grow.”