Helping Greenwich to offer a GREAT China Welcome

Programme for today Welcome & Objectives China: the opportunity How to offer a GREAT welcome to Chinese visitors Go China case study: Tourism South East Within our hood: a panel discussion University of Greenwich Royal Museums of Greenwich Twin UK Q & A Next steps

Market introduction

Four gateway cities

Q1: How many people live in China? A. 1 billion B. 1.1 billion C. D. 1.3 billion 1.5 billion

Q2: What is the Chinese Zodiac sign for this year? A. B. Monkey Sheep C. D. Rabbit Horse

Q3: How long does Chinese New Year last for? A. B. 1 day 3 days C. D. 8 days 15 days

Q4: What is the official currency? A. B. RMB Rembini C. D. Dollar Yuan

Q5: What language is most spoken? A. B. Cantonese Mandarin C. D. English Pekan

Q6: Which of these is most popular in China? A. B. Harry Potter The Beatles C. D. William Shakespeare Sherlock Holmes

Q7: What is the average salary? A. B. $9,000 $12,000 C. D. $18,000 $26,500

Q7: How does average spend of Chinese visitors compare to all overseas visitors? A. B. 1 x 2 x C. D. 3 x 4 x

Q8: Which of these digital / social channels are popular in China? A. B. Facebook Weibo C. D. WeChat LinkedIn

Chi CHINA Why all the fuss?

Key UK inbound market facts Visits 270,000 Spending 586m To UK: %, rank 3% 9th Source: International Passenger Survey, 2014

Long term view: clear upwards trend with the occasional blip Visits and spending to the UK from China 2014-2015 Source: International Passenger Survey

Holiday visits have grown the most Visits to the UK from China, by journey purpose (000s) 2012-14 avg. China All markets Holidays 39% 39% VFR 22% 28% Business 23% 24% Misc 16% 8% Source: International Passenger Survey

Journey duration Medium length trips have become more popular: Proportion of all Chinese holiday nights 2002-2004 2012-2014 1-3nights 10% 4% 4-7nights 11% 16% 8-14 nights 29% 45% And Chinese visitors stay longer than average: Average duration of holiday visits to the UK: China: 9.6 nights All inbound markets average: 6.2 nights 15+nights 50% 35% Source: International Passenger Survey

Regional spread stronger in Scotland and NE Regional spread of Chinese holiday nights. Colour coding indexes against average of all UK inbound tourists. 1% 2% 2% 2% 1% 24% 6% Source: International Passenger Survey 1% 0% 47% 10% 4% All visits, 2012-14 (000s) Total UK 216,000 London 159,000 Scotland 53,000 South East 35,000 North West 24,000 East Of England 20,000 South West 16,000 Yorkshire 10,000 West Midlands 7,000 North East 5,000 East Midlands 5,000 Northern Ireland 4,000 Wales 3,000

Most visitors are under 45 % of visitors in each age band, by age Source: International Passenger Survey

Although this will change % of population in each 5 year age band, millions Source: International Passenger Survey

What Chinese Holiday visitors do in Britain

Interest in British culture and attractions Monarchy / the Royals 1 Shakespeare 2 Food 3 Sherlock Holmes 4 The London Underground (the tube) 5 Harry Potter 6 British fashion labels 7 Edinburgh Festival 8 Afternoon tea / cakes 9 Downton Abbey 10 Bagpipes 11 Pubs 12 Beatles 13 Music Festivals 14 Red double decker bus 15 Football 16 Agatha Christie 17 Cheap high street shopping 18 Myths and Legends 19 Dickens 20 Opera / Ballet 21 West End Theatre / Musicals 22 Paddington Bear 23 Black cabs 24 Cricket 25 Interest in aspects of British culture Likelihood of visiting different attractions if visited Britain Historical landmarks e.g. Beg Ben etc 1 Castles 2 World-famous universities and/or schools 3 Cathedrals/ churches 4 Royalty residences and royal ceremonies 5 Museums 6 Historical/ Classical art galleries 7 Street fairs/ arts and crafts markets 8 Stately homes/ country houses & mansions 9 Restaurants serving the local cuisine 10 Award-winning or interesting architecture 11 Interesting and/ diverse neighbourhoods 12 Contemporary/modern art galleries 13 Food markets 14 Award-winning restaurants 15 Locations from famous films/ TV 16 Live music shows 17 Live theatre 18 Sports matches and/ or venues 19

Nation Brands Index UK brand is strong in China Ranking given to UK on each aspect (out of 50 countries) China All markets Overall Nation Brands Index ranking 2 (+1) 3 Historic buildings 4 5 Vibrant cities 3 ( 2) 4 Visit if money was no object 2 ( 2) 6 Natural beauty 6 ( 10) 18 Contemporary culture 3 3 Cultural heritage 3 ( 1) 6 Welcome 3 ( 11) 11 Source: GfK Nation Brand Index, 2015

Exchange rate was a challenge in 2015 but has eased recently 100 buys: Source: Bank of England

Medium term economic outlook Consumer spending powering ahead 2015 2016 2017 2018 Real GDP growth 6.9% 6.2% 6.0% 5.9% Real consumer spending growth 8.1% 7.5% 7.0% 6.8% Exchange rate, per 9.6 9.3 9.7 9.8 Visits to UK: 27% 6% 6% 9% Source: Oxford Economics

THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE - 1

THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE - 2 Online Payments

The GREAT China Welcome programme

Our ambition By 2020: - 450K visitors - 1 billion spend

Four key areas

Aims to make Britain the most welcoming destination in Europe for Chinese visitors A GREAT China Welcome charter for British tourism suppliers and retailers who are already China-ready to help connect them to the market An industry wide education programme which helps UK hospitality businesses to become China-ready

March 2014: Launched to UK industry

November 2015: Launched to Chinese travel trade at Destination Britain event

February 2015: Given thumbs up by PM at Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism event

July 2015: awarded Silver for best overall performance in the global 2015 Chinese Tourist Welcome awards

In 2014 Britain was ranked 14 in China, when it came to Welcome In 2015 Britain had climbed 11 places to 3 Source: GfK Anholt Nations Brand Index, November 2015

Membership criteria: at least one of these: 1. A product or service that is of genuine interest to potential Chinese visitors & their needs 2. First-hand experience of Chinese visitors 3. Mandarin or Cantonese speaking staff 4. Translated websites, apps or literature 5. Visitor information or signage in Mandarin? 6. Visitor-facing staff undergone training about Chinese culture and etiquette 7. Facilities for customers to pay using UnionPay 8. Collaboration with a peer organisations in China

June 2016: Almost 400 members These include: 90+ 70+ 20+ 50+ 10+ hotels or accommodatio n agencies attractions retailers tour operators destinations

UnionPay Partnership

What does it give you? GCW Brand Discounts Listings Priority Promotion Insights Distribution

What does it cost? 0 0 FOR NOW!!! 0 0 0 0 0

Current opportunities Media & social media promotions Fam trips (October & March) Photo competitions Seminar & networking fair New directory Trade missions Destination Britain China, 21 23 November

Lessons learned from GCW members Start with the UK-based intermediaries: ground handlers, tour ops, tour guides Don t think you have to adapt everything a little gesture goes a long way Make the experience: relevant bookable shareable Work together Get social

Chinese social media VisitBritain has 850K followers on our Weibo account and 70K subscribers to our WeChat feed