According to the latest data from ForwardKeys, now is the time for a real tourist boom from China, which is predicted in the near future. This is the conclusion reached by the company's analysts after studying 17 million transactions. In their opinion, this is the main trend of the coming years.
According to ForwardKeys, a total of nine new routes between China and cities around the world will be launched in the first half of 2018, one will be resumed, and three more are under development. In addition, four new China-Europe routes are planned for the second half of this year.
More flights and more options in 2018
Finland in particular is benefiting from Finnair's Asian strategy, while Spain, the UK and Ireland are already seeing increasing tourist flows from China.
ForwardKeys statistics show that by June, there will be an additional 30 flights per week from China to Europe. Based on a 200-seat configuration, that means 6,000 seats per week will be available to Chinese travellers connecting China to Europe.
And that's without taking our country into account. So, the average total number of seats available each week from China to Russia last summer was 150,000.
Information about new routes
Confirmed volume:
• Twice weekly, Shenzhen-Madrid by Hainan Airlines, in March 2018
• Three times weekly, Shenyang-Frankfurt by Lufthansa in March 2018 (resumed)
• Twice weekly, Shenzhen-Brussels by Hainan Airlines in March 2018
• Four times a week, Beijing-Barcelona by Air China, in April 2018
• Twice weekly, Xian-London by Tianjin Airlines, in May 2018
• Three times weekly Wuhan-London by China Southern Airlines, in May 2018
• Four times weekly Beijing-Copenhagen by Air China in May 2018
• Three times a week Nanjing-Helsinki with Finnair in May 2018
• Three times weekly Beijing-Helsinki by Beijing Capital Airlines, in June 2018
• Four times weekly Shanghai-Stockholm by China Eastern Airlines, in June 2018
Hainan Airlines has applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China to launch these routes, but permission has not yet been granted:
• Beijing-Edinburgh-Dublin, twice weekly, June 2018
• Beijing-Dublin-Edinburgh, twice weekly, June 2018
• Changsha-London three times a week, March 2018
According to ForwardKeys, Europe, which accounts for 10 percent of all Chinese tourists, saw its Chinese arrivals increase by 7.4% in January and February this year. Turkey, which has recovered from the attacks, saw its arrivals increase by 108.2% and Greece by 55.7% compared to the same period last year.
By the way, the tourist flow to China from different countries is also increasing. Currently, orders for flights to China for the next six months are 11.8% higher than a year earlier.
North America has become China's largest market, accounting for 25% of total volume. Orders from there currently exceed those from other countries by 24%.
ForwardKeys CEO and co-founder Olivier Jager commented on the topic: "The Chinese have long shown a keen interest in international travel. Europe clearly has much to gain from the growing flow from China, as the Chinese are willing to spend money on luxury goods during their holidays, presenting a good opportunity for European retailers."
Source: trn-news.ru
