2023-05-09
Moderator：QIU Hanqin, Dean and Distinguished Professor of the International School of Cultural Tourism, Zhejiang University City College
Panelists:
1. Sarah WANG, Regional Director for Asia, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC)
2. Carson Lewis JENKINS, Emeritus Professor of International Tourism, University
of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland/Chair Professor of the International School of Cultural Tourism, Zhejiang University City College
3. HE Xiaozu, CPC Committee Secretary of Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, China
4. WANG Wei, President of Shanghai Spring International Travel Service (Group) Co., Ltd.
5. LIU Zinan, SVP, Royal Caribbean Group/Chairman, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Asia
Full text:
QIU Hanqin: We have a lot of good news today. The tourism industry is on its way to recovery. In this panel discussion, we’ll talk to industry experts about whether we are ready. Are we ready for the recovery of tourism across sectors? What is the new normal of tourism? What kind of opportunities and challenges do we face?
Carson Lewis JENKINS: The first thing is, when I looked at the program, I was very impressed to see that the WTA was working with UNWTO and also the WTTC. I’m told that WTTC has been operating for 30 years. And if you go back to your origins of UNWTO, then it goes back to 1950. So, these are very powerful voices. And working together means they will be much more effective in trying to influence tourism policy and tourism development indeed. Now, the point I would like to make is, first of all, all three organizations are advisory organizations. They each do an enormous amount of work, which informs tourism policy, but they do not make tourism policy. Tourism policy is made by governments. And, therefore, these organizations then can attempt to influence the government in best practices or make them aware of industry problems, such as labor shortages, various things like that. So in that sense, this becomes a very, very important issue indeed.
One of the phrases we’ve heard over the last, maybe, seven or eight years is “over tourism”, which simply means too many tourists in a location, which affects the experience then of the visitor and, of course, of local people. So one of our important issues now is, not to say, what is the new tourism going to look like? My suggestion to you is, it’s going to look very different because we cannot immediately reinstate the international tourism supply lines. And I think there are many examples of this. So, what I would say then to make it very brief, is if I looked at government policy now, generally, I would have a number of ambitions. One, first of all, I would like to see more and more governments moving from — what I call — the maximization model to the optimization model. So instead of asking the question, how many tourists can we attract, why not ask the second question, how many tourists can we comfortably absorb? That is a very difficult sell because most countries count the number of tourists coming in and look at the financial return from it. Very rarely do they ask the other side of the question: “How is tourism impacting locations where tourism takes place?”
And maybe two last points. One, we need to separate policy from plans. Policies are our aspirations — what is that we want to do in the next 3, 5, 10 years? The plan is how we strategize those aspirations on a daily basis. So, thinking about these three organizations, one of the things I would suggest to you is a phrase now, which has become common: “Think globally, act locally”. So when we look at the trends in tourism, say within PATA or within a great global basis, we need to look at those and say: “How will they affect our country? What do we want to take advantage of? What do we want to avoid?” So this is what policy is about then. It’s looking to the future. It’s looking to the new normal. And that is something, I think, that every country is going to have to do.
Sarah WANG: WTTC has been advocating the importance of tourism for more than 30 years, and we have been doing so with member companies, including enterprises in basically all sub-sectors of tourism, hoping that the government, more communities, and organizations of higher-education institutions can attach more importance to tourism and join hands to make it more sustainable.
Of course, there are still many challenges in the short and medium term. The staff shortage mentioned by many guests just now, coupled with the sudden burst of tourism demand after the covid-related restrictions were lifted, will put great pressure on the reception capacity of the tourism industry. As you already know, there was widespread chaos and stranded passengers at many European airports last summer. This may be common in every major market because of the loss of a lot of tourism professionals in the past three years.
Besides the high inflation is eating into people’s disposable income, and their tourism spending as well. But there is also good news. According to a report by our member company Deloitte, even when people’s disposable income shrinks due to high inflation, tourism spending is still a priority. People would rather save on other expenses for spending on tourism. This is a positive factor.
Before the Spring Festival, we released the Travel Consumption Trend Report together with two member companies, Ctrip and Deloitte. We note some new consumption trends among tourists, including the choice of sustainable travel methods by more and more travelers. Sustainability was perhaps a manifestation of Corporate Social Responsibility, but we believe that in the next stage, it will definitely become a necessity and even a competitive advantage for companies. We feel that it is very important.
We also see an increasing combination of business and leisure travel: many people would stay for a few more days for sightseeing after a business trip. During the pandemic, we’ve become more and more accustomed to remote work, which has proved effective with the help of technology and given birth to a lot of new lifestyles, including “digital nomads”: some young people are now used to traveling and working on the Internet at the same time. In fact, in January, Spain began to issue visas for digital nomads, allowing foreigners to live in Spain and work remotely. In fact, we have seen a lot of new changes, including those to social media and people’s choice of travel products, and the guidance of popular interest in travel. These are some new trends.
QIU Hanqin: Next let’s welcome Mr. He, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Gansu Province, to share his thoughts on the changes and innovations in the tourism industry under the new paradigm.
HE Xiaozu: After the three-year pandemic, our judgment is that the demand of the tourism market has changed, and so has the way of tourism, and we, as a government department for culture and tourism administration responsible for guiding and organizing the development of tourism products and the delivery of public services, must also change our way of work accordingly.
As to tourism development, in my opinion, first of all, it doesn’t mean that our tourist attractions must strive for the rating of AAAA or AAAAA; instead, we must expand their space and add more functions to them, and especially we should add more cultural content, and create more scenarios of secondary consumption. At the same time, tourist attractions should drive the specialized circulation of goods and people in and around tourist towns. That’s why it is important to add more cultural content.
The second is about new business forms. Based on the analysis, we believe that rural tourism surely plays a key role in driving rural revitalization, poverty alleviation, and prosperity. Statistical analysis shows that rural tourism has accounted for 47.5% of the tourism market, and is very important. Of course, we should also work to improve, upgrade and diversify rural products.
The third is outdoor sports. According to our work experience, the government must attach great importance to the integrated development of different types of outdoor sports and tourism activities, such as the filing, regulation, and safety control of outdoor sports activities, but relevant standards and policies are still missing in China. Besides, outdoor sports routes, emergency aid facilities, and infrastructure facilities along the routes are still to be perfected and meet relevant criteria. The development of outdoor sports will become mainstream.
Fourth, wellness tourism. Combining tourism with health preservation, as well as leisure and mini-vacation, will be another major direction.
Fifth, study tour. The study tour market is huge, but there are still some problems: 1. Research and development of study tour products,a compilation of teaching materials, and training of teachers fail to keep up. 2. The education sector and the tourism sector lack the coordination to introduce policies to regulate the business. There are still many shortcomings.
QIU Hanqin: Thank you very much, Mr. He. The tourism industry attaches great importance to the cultural legacy of tourist attractions. As we often say, culture is content, and tourism is the channel. Now let’s give the floor to Mr. Wang, President of Spring Airlines Group. Airlines are very important to the tourism industry. What do you want to share with us in the new development paradigm?
WANG We: In 2021, there was a buzzword called “VUCA,” standing for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. In times like this, how do we find certainty in a VUCA world? One example is tourism. Tourism makes life better, and people yearn for or are full of expectations for it. No one wears a sad face while traveling.
In 2022 we redefined our corporate vision to serve the people’s aspiration for a better life and embody it in our company logo. Some people say our logo looks like a propeller. In fact, it consists of three “S”: Sincerity, Safety, and Smile. This is our mission. We work with sincerity and integrity to put a smile on the face of every passenger. During the pandemic, everything we did revolved around how to make people happy and meet their expectations. We launched urban mini-tours, urban archaeological tours, architecture tours, etc., to empower our products with culture, and appeal to customers with these products, so that they will know more about us, and are willing to join our tours.
Of course, after the pandemic, the social environment and the international situation have undergone great changes. In fact, consumption is upgrading, but of course, our consumer base is expanding to include more people in lower-tier cities and towns. A case in point is that most of our young passengers are first-time fliers at a relatively young age. In Lanzhou Airport, we rank top in terms of the number of routes operated and the number of passengers. We attach great importance to our development in Gansu. In partnership with the Culture and Tourism Department and the airport, we offer discounts to native first-time flyers from all over the province. We offer passengers destinations and a pleasant journey so that we can embark on a path of sustainable development path.
QIU Hanqin: Now let’s turn our attention from airlines to the trendy cruise tour which is considered a luxury for most people. What do you want to share with us?
LIU Zinan: I think to promote tourism development, the government should create a business environment, and introduce policies to encourage market players on the supply side to continue to launch new products in the market. The tourism business is basically operated in a market-oriented way, which means that market entities must give full play to their skills and expertise to develop products. But the business environment created by the government is crucial. This is the first challenge we face.
The second challenge is that we need to constantly create new demand. The reason is that to promote cruise tourism we need to create new demand, not to eat into the existing pie of holidaymaking by other means. It is a new demand. And a company must constantly innovate in order to create and drive such a new demand. Royal Caribbean Group is one such company. I did not elaborate on the company profile just now. Royal Caribbean Group is the world’s leading luxury cruise group and boasts the second-largest fleet in the world, with 3 cruise ships and 5 brands. In terms of market capitalization, it is the world’s most valuable cruise ship group with 18 billion US dollars, showing the consumers’ and investors’ recognition of Royal Caribbean Cruise Group.