Editorial: Stepping into Spring 2019

COTRI releases the latest edition of the COTRI MARKET REPORT

by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt FRGS FRAS

Dear readers,

COTRI WEEKLY comes to you every week free of charge without any advertisements and we strive to provide high quality travel, tourism, and leisure news and updates exclusively for our subscribers. Apart from these weekly updates, COTRI provides a broad range of services for our customers, and this week, we would like to take this opportunity today to proudly announce that the Spring 2019 edition of the bi-annual COTRI MARKET REPORT will be published this week!

With a total of 70 pages of extensive up-to-date qualitative and quantitative information on Chinese travellers abroad, this edition of the COTRI MARKET REPORT covers the winners and losers among the various destinations in 2018. We provide the reasons behind the rise and fall in the popularity of different destinations, and the prospects for 2019. On top of these areas, the COTRI MARKET REPORT also provides a list of all the latest air connections as well as a compilation of countries with new visa policies for China. Last but not least, a ranking of successful social media campaigns of nation tourism organisations is included. In this issue, the comeback of Hong Kong and Macau as popular tourism destinations is discussed, along with the growing problems of island destinations.

Each COTRI MARKET REPORT has a “Deep Dive” section and for the Spring 2019 edition, two major topics are analysed. Firstly, the fast growing market segment of young Chinese travellers born after 1990, which show different needs and behaviour not only compared to the 30+ travellers, but also significant differences between those above and below the age of 20. Secondly, medical outbound tourism is given a thorough examination in terms of size and specifics of the Chinese market as well as the prospects for the coming years.

Geographically, Africa receives special attention both in the way the region is developing as a travel destination for Chinese tourists and in the way that other regions can learn from the challenges and successes experienced. In an interview we conducted, the largest Southern Chinese wholesaler specialised in-group travels to Africa and Middle East shares his insights on the topic. In another interview, we spoke to a major Southern China-Europe tour operator on his view on the impact of Tourism Years like the EU, Turkish, and Canadian Tourism Years organised with China in 2018.

Finally as always COTRI looks ahead to forecast the most likely development of Chinese outbound tourism in coming years.

For more details on the purchase of the Spring 2019 edition of the COTRI MARKET REPORT, please visit our website at www.china-outbound.com.

We hope to meet some of our readers this month during ITB China in the coming week in Shanghai, the China – The Future of travel Summit in Beijing during May 20-22 or the 1st Asian Tourism Resilience Summit in Kathmandu on May 30-31!

With best wishes for the week!

Wolfgang Georg Arlt and the COTRI WEEKLY Team