More Chinese visitors abandoning tour buses and going it alone

Thursday, 19 January 2017

Chinese visitors like to travel with family or friends, and tandem skydiving is on their 'must do' list.

Thousands of Chinese visitors are flying in to celebrate Chinese New Year. Amanda Cropp reports on big changes in their travel habits.

Flocks of Chinese tourists herded aboard buses and whisked from one attraction to the next are a common sight during peak holiday season.

Christchurch company Welcome Aboard finds Asian visitors make up about half those taking its punting trips on the Avon River, but only three per cent of its Port Hills gondola passengers. Chief executive Michael Esposito says it's because 'Punting is just that bit different, but gondolas are all over the world.'

Group tours are still a big part of a market worth almost $2 billion annually, but more and more of the 400,000-plus Chinese visitors coming here each year are doing their own thing.

Not so long ago only about 20 per cent were classed as free independent travellers (FIT), now it's closer to half, and in the South Island the vast majority of Chinese holidaymakers drive themselves or use public transport.

That's had a big impact on the tourism industry as it tries to meet the needs of what is now its second biggest market behind Australia.

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* Chinese visitors feed skydiving boom and shortage of jump masters**

A lot of effort has gone into finding out why the Chinese come and what they want to do while they're here.

Increasingly sophisticated travellers

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) reports on Chinese FIT tourists say they are mainly independent professionals and 'active boomers' aged 55 to 74, with a sprinkling of young backpackers.

They are staying longer, travelling more widely throughout the country, spending more (close to $5000 a head on average), and they are increasingly choosing to come outside peak season.

Observing wildlife is their top-rated activity, closely followed by walking or hiking, visiting beaches, farms, geothermal areas and national parks.

Forward Insight and Strategy director Louise Beard is an expert in international tourism market development.

She says it's important that tourism operators targeting the Chinese take that into account their urban lifestyles by providing activities that are not too time consuming or physically demanding.

'They're not likely to do an eight hour trip, but they are very likely to do a two hour one.

'Generally our cycle trails are too long, and too hard.

'They call themselves dry ducks because many of them cannot swim, so they're interested in 'on' water experiences, but by and large not 'in' water experiences.

'They absolutely want to have a kayak experience but it needs to be relatively short and easy.'

Feeding ducks in a park or seagulls at the beach isn't a big deal for Kiwis, but it's a real novelty for Chinese , says Beard.

Our ordinary is their extraordinary.

'It's unusual for urban Chinese to experience animals in a natural environment, even clear blue skies, water you can drink from a stream.

'The thing that's critical for the Chinese traveller is to be able to tell a story and share their experience with other people. So if there's something that's unique in some way that they can talk about it really makes a difference.'

Invercargill has the southern-most Starbucks in the world and Chinese visitors line up for photographs with a sign about the cafe's claim to fame.

According to MBIE's China market snapshot, 22 per cent of Chinese take a helicopter ride and Beard says that's because it is virtually impossible to fly in privately owned aircraft in China.

However, anything with negative connotations, is regarded as 'inauspicious.'

Christchurch's Quake City exhibition was 'definitely not for the Chinese ' because it was a reminder of their own seismic disasters, says Beard.

Segregation debate

The rapid increase in Chinese visitors has led to some debate about 'Chinese only' tours to cope with the language barrier, especially if there are safety issues.

Skydiving is hugely popular with Chinese visitors and while Queenstown-based NZONE Skydive has Mandarin-speaking staff and briefing material, business development director Derek Melnick has resisted running segregated tandem skydive flights.

'Part of the travel experience is about the people you meet and share it with. When you start to separate markets, I think it detracts from one of the critical elements that makes an experience half of what it is.'

Destination Queenstown chief executive Graham Budd says most Chinese FITs don't want to be surrounded by other Chinese or feel that they are going to a place that's swamped by them.

On the other hand, he says catering for a significant segment of the tourism market is a smart business move, and Ngai Tahu Tourism's Dart River Safaris won an international Chinese tourism award for its Chinese-targeted Glenorchy Discovery tour which includes a 'GPS triggered' Mandarin commentary.

Another characteristic of Chinese FITs is that they often travel in groups of friends, family or business acquaintances and Beard says that has implications for accommodation providers.

'The idea of having fun with the group, making and developing friendships through travel is very much part of the ethos. It's very unusual for them to travel alone, or even travel as a couple, generally it's groups of four.

'They want rooms close to each other or they're very interested in accommodation that enables them to share a house.'

Few Chinese tourists go camping but their use of holiday parks is increasing and the Holiday Parks Association is encouraging that through a Mandarin video explaining the variety of accommodation on offer.

They keep coming back

The drop in organised group travel is also seeing Chinese visitors venturing away from the Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown gateways and into the regions, particularly if they are repeat visitors.

A 2015 survey of Chinese FIT travellers found a quarter had been here more than once and about 65 per cent were planning to return.

MBIE is predicting that by 2022 Chinese visitor numbers will surpass 900,000 annually but there are signs that the explosive growth of recent years is slowing.

Budd says Queenstown is already seeing evidence of that in the Chinese spending figures which increased 7 per cent last year, compared with 50 per cent annually for the previous four to five years.

'It's a reflection of the fact that the capacity for us to absorb more [visitors] is limited, particularly at peak times.'

But Beard is confident New Zealand's popularity with the Chinese will continue.

She sees plenty of potential in a country where only 6 per cent of the population has a passport and there's a growing middle class which values travel highly.

'Travel is a phenomenally important part of the lives of middle class Chinese. It's important to them in terms of their social identity and just to get a break from the huge environmental and work pressures on them living in those large cities.'