The cycle of UK lockdowns claims another holiday this year. Chinese Lunar New Year in 2021 falls on 12 February; right in the middle of the latest national lockdown. This means like Eid and Christmas last year, Chinese New Year won’t escape disruption caused by the pandemic. The tightest restrictions since last March have made…
Even though the pandemic isn’t going to disappear in the new year, in Britain we can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. The UK government has now approved two vaccines for use, raising hopes for a swift return to normal. Even so, travellers in 2021 are likely to factor in a…
When borders reopen and Covid becomes less of a barrier to international travel, what are we likely to see? Luckily, we only need to look at the trends from October’s holiday period to get a good idea.
2021 isn’t going to be an easy year for the UK’s inbound tourism. With the world’s economies reeling from Covid-19, free movement ending with EU27 countries and confidence in travel at a low, the industry will struggle. As China has been the only major economy to grow this year, Chinese consumers are likely to be…
There is one notable exception to this; the IMF actually projected China’s economy to grow this year by 1.9%, making it the only major economy to do so. This growth may be far slower than recent years, even small growth puts the average Chinese consumer in a better position to travel than those in other countries.
But the last few months has given us a sense of the type of visitor we’re likely to see when Chinese tourists start travelling overseas again. And it looks like once common large coach groups will become far less common as China’s outbound tourism starts to recover.
Cultural differences can present real challenges to UK companies doing business in China. Building a strong relationship with Chinese organisations will often involve playing host to visiting business partners, clients and “goodwill missions”. Getting this right will be key to sending the right message.
Xi and Trump prepare to meet at G20 after the failure of APEC Tensions between the US and China were emphasised once more at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Papua New Guinea earlier this month. US Vice President Mike Pence hit out at China’s Belt & Road initiative, warning other leaders present of China’s…
Visit of Japanese PM Abe to China, a potential game-changer in Sino-Japanese relations Over recent years Sino-Japanese relations have been fraught as territorial disputes have continued to divide the two countries’ leaders and their people. However, this month Chinese leaders wooed Japanese PM Abe, who made an official visit to Beijing. China hopes that improved economic…
Sweden in China’s bad books after Chinese tourists’ hostel drama A clash between Chinese tourists and the Swedish police has caused consternation on Chinese social media and heightened tension between the Swedish and Chinese governments. A Chinese family – an elderly couple and their adult son – arrived 14 hours early for check-in at a…
