Is Europe Ready for a Massive Turnout of Asian Travelers? No Way

Asians are traveling all over Europe in droves, reaching 14 million in 2005, and the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe are unprepared to meet their specific demands, a report launched at World Travel Market 2006 revealed.

Produced for World Travel Market by Euromonitor International, the WTM Global Trends Report 2006 warned that many European countries need to address gaps in their infrastructure and service provision, if they are to safeguard future tourism revenue from high-spending Chinese and Indian travelers.

According to Caroline Bremner, Euromonitor International’s Global Travel and Tourism research manager, Europe has so far only taken small steps to make sure it can fully cater to the needs of Asian tourists, however, there is a long way to go.

“There is a particular service gap for Asians looking for more customized or self-determined travel, as by and large the main travel product currently available to Asian tourists in Europe is mass-catered in style,” she said.

The Euromonitor International executive said she believes Europe’s infrastructure is falling short. Among the issues raised include insufficient parking for organized tours, limited access to city centers, lack of credit card facilities and cash machines outside cities and main tourist areas.

Euromonitor International warns that currently, countries such as the UK have a shortage of low-to-mid priced accommodation; a situation which needs to be addressed, if the UK is to ensure that revenue opportunities from Chinese tourists are optimized, as this is their preferred accommodation price platform.

Also a problem, according to the WTM Global Trends Report 2006, is language, which the report calls “a key component which continues to undermine Europe’s tourism product offer.”

As an example, Euromonitor International pointed out that the VisitBritain website is only half-translated for Chinese users and, therefore, falls short of complete functionality, while, in spite of the fact that 2006 is the “Year of China” in London, there has been an evident shortfall of Mandarin speaking guides, as well as translations, at tourist attractions.

To Mrs. Bremner, how well Europe will fair in harnessing the boom in Asian tourism depends on how effectively and how quickly European countries meet the specific needs of Asian tourists.