CHINA. Dragon Trail International, a respected marketing company specializing in global travel and China has provided an interesting perspective on a Wall Street Journal article (WSJ), which predicted that China would not open its borders for international travel until 2022.Dragon Trail highlights that there are some travel corridors, even if they are not within China, but still outside of the Mainland –Ed. More could be opened well before next year.Dragon Trail commented that the WSJ's situation may not be as dire as it seems. He emphasized a claim made in the article by China that if China eases restrictions, it will likely be first on travel between the Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau.Dragon Trails comment: The Chinese government has always maintained a cautious approach to controlling COVID-19 infection, so a slow reopening is long expected.Macau has been open to mainland visitors since August last year. There have been 167,000 mainland arrivals during the May Labor Day holiday and 30-40k expected arrivals per day in July and August.ForwardKeys' latest data shows that mainland travellers are spending more time in Macau now than they did before the pandemic.Dragon Trail also mentions that Air Macau currently offers a promotion of -20% on flights to the mainland for Macau residents who have been vaccinated.Dragon Trail notes that restrictions in Macau have been removed. Also, China reached the one-billion vaccination milestone last weekend.[Editor's note: The Mainland-wide resumption last September of the Macaus Individual Visit Scheme, (IVS), was a breakthrough moment. Since then, the situation has steadily improved.Macau visitor overnight stays rose by 11.3% to 450 579 in April (total visitors reached 794 819). The number of overnight stays reached 300,467, a record for IVS-enabled visitors since its reintroduction, but still far below pre-pandemic levels. But spending levels are outstanding and DFS Group Chairman and CEO Benjamin Vuchot is optimistic about the future.Click here to read his views on Macaus' travel retail market.Travel retail professionals are anxious to know when or if the Mainland authorities will allow travel into the Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong).Continued the Dragon Trail commentary: We are optimistic about new travel corridors opening well before next year.Despite the lockdowns and outbreaks in Guangdong Province during local events, Dragon Boat Festival (12-14 Jun) was a testament to China's sustained recovery. Traveller numbers are almost on par with 2019.Popular choices included outdoor and camping activities, red tourism, cultural travel and other outdoor activities. There was a notable increase in Gen-Z travelers and small families.Dragon Trail International will host a webinar on 12/7 focusing on opportunities for China's senior/silver travelers. Dragon Trail International will be joined by guest speakers Brendan Tansey, Poseidon Expeditions Sylvie Ch, to discuss the key market segments within the 50-70 year old age group, their expectations regarding travel, and the best routes to reach them. You can find more information and book details here.
