SYDNEY -- A radical
reshaping is taking place in
Australia's lucrative tourism market,
with tourism operators partnering with
leading Chinese brands in an attempt
to become "China Ready" for
Australia's fastest growing and most
cherished market.
It's a
market with an impressive annual 12
percent growth and one that by 2020
is expected to contribute up to $9
billion annually to the Australian
economy.
But just how "China
Ready" are Australia's tourism
operators?
Tourism Australia Managing
Director Andrew McEvoy said being
"China Ready" was critical to fully
leverage Australia's destination appeal
for China's new and sophisticated
globetrotter, and that progress was
already being made.
"BridgeClimb
Sydney is a good example of a
popular Australian tourism operator adapting
its business to cater better for
Chinese visitors," he
said.
Launched this year,
BridgeClimb Sydney welcomed Chinese visitors
in their own language with the
launch of its new Mandarin Climb
featuring local mandarin speaking guides --
specifically for Chinese
visitors.
The new climb offers
Chinese visitors, aged 10 years and
over, a chance to fully participate
in one of Australia's iconic
experiences.
To ensure they
were "China Ready" BridgeClimb developed
a China plan and are continuously
seeking expert advice through trusted
Chinese partners.
In evidence,
BridgeClimb forged a relationship with
China UnionPay to ensure Chinese
visitors' spending experience is
seamless.
James Yang, Chief
Representative, China Union Pay South
Pacific, said UnionPay has already
become a key component of many
Aussie businesses' "China Ready"
capacities.
"UnionPay, as a
Chinese trust and preferred payment
method, has been accepted by thousands
of Australian business in the
industries of tourism, education and
retails," he said.
China has
become the largest outbound tourism
country in Asia and the third
largest overseas consumer population in
the world, according to China Southern
Airlines, and the capacity to meet
this challenge requires genuine cross-border
commercial coordination.
Tourism
Australia and State tourism partners
like Destination New South Wales
(DNSW) entered into a cooperative
marketing deal in 2012 that will see
more than A$9 million invested in 2013
with China's largest and fastest
growing international airline, China Southern
Airlines.
China Southern is
now the leading carrier on the
China- Australia route, carrying 22 percent
of all Chinese tourists into Australia
during 2011.
In just over two
years, the airline has nearly
quadrupled capacity to Australia, opening
up direct access between China and
Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth,
and soon to be Cairns. China
Southern has a large network in
China and is rapidly developing
Guangzhou into a major hub which
will ultimately help connect up to 80
cities to Australia.
Tan
Wan'geng, President and CEO of
China Southern Airlines, told Xinhua,
"CSN will continue to focus on
Australia as the most important
overseas tourism destination. In 2009, CSN
decided to build an Australia transfer
service network in the Canton aviation
hub, which shall later also links
Europe and Oceania."
In the
past four years, CSN's capacity
input in the Australia and New
Zealand region has seen an annual
growth of 50 percent or
more.
With the increase in
Chinese visitors to Australia it is
imperative that the inbound tourism
operators and Australian based tourism
industry operators work cohesively and
collaboratively toward to the common
goal of providing a service or
experience which meets the needs of
Chinese travelers.
Last month,
the largest ever group of NSW
tourism operators voyaged to the
southern Chinese city of Sanya, Hainan
Province to meet with key travel
trade representatives as part of
efforts to build on the growing
Chinese tourism market.
"The
NSW Government, through DNSW, is
working hard to capitalize on that
growing source market and maintain NSW
as the leading destination for Chinese
visitors," State Minister for Tourism
George Souris said.
Chinese
visitor arrivals to Australia are
expected to reach close to 1 million
by 2020.
（Editor：GaoYinan、Chen
Lidan）
