Three year agreement to market Britain to cardholders of major Chinese Banks through CUP; Partnership to develop UK merchant acceptance of CUP cards.
An innovative partnership has been signed yesterday between VisitBritain and China UnionPay International (CUP) to market Britain to the cardholders of China’s leading banks and to support increased acceptance of CUP cards in the United Kingdom.
Christopher Rodrigues, Chairman of VisitBritain, signed the agreement with Mr. Su Ning, Chairman of China UnionPay and UnionPay International in the presence of influential figures from the tourism industry at Beijing’s Kerry Hotel this morning.
Currently there are 50,000 merchants in UK which accept UnionPay cards and the majority of UK ATM machines also accept these cards. This partnership aims to motivate Chinese tourists to travel to and beyond London and to increase merchant acceptance of CUP cards as part of Britain’s campaign to becoming the most welcoming destination in Europe for Chinese visitors. Recent insights from The China Tourism Research Institute reveal that Britain is ranked the top destination for visitor satisfaction ahead of Germany and Australia.
The partnership will be part of the GREAT campaign, using the themes of shopping, heritage and culture to build visitor numbers and spend from China – a market worth £300 million a year to Britain in 2012 and currently growing at 25% a year. Chinese visitors will also be encouraged to travel outside of London.
The agreement follows on from the partnerships recently signed with China International Travel Service (CITS), CITS Shanghai, Caissa, Bamboo Garden and Everbright. All these agreements will be able to capitalise on the recent announcement by the Chancellor of further enhancements to visa processes for Chinese visitors to the UK and follow significant improvements in UK Visa processing which have been widely acknowledged by leading Chinese tour operators.
Christopher Rodrigues, Chairman of VisitBritain, said: “This partnership marks a milestone with our work in China. We expect to further expand our reach in the world’s fastest outbound growing market while providing more Chinese consumers with a greater level of convenience when they travel and shop in Britain.
“This is also part of our effort to welcome Chinese people to our country and establish Britain as the most welcoming destination in Europe. China is one of the fastest growing markets for Britain. Over the last decade, the number of Chinese tourists who visited Britain tripled, while their expenditure quadrupled.
“We are confident that the partnership with UnionPay International will help us attract more high spending visitors from China.”
Culture Secretary Maria Miller said: “Britain is one of the greatest countries in the world for tourists, with our historical palaces and heritage sites to our world class museums and galleries, and I’m very pleased that this partnership will help more Chinese tourists visit the UK. We have already announced a simpler visa system for Chinese holiday makers and our message is clear, Britain is open for business and Chinese visitors should come and experience all the great sites, shops and galleries we have to offer.”
Mr. Su Ning, Chairman of UnionPay International, said: “This cooperation further strengthens the friendship and the collaborative relationship between UnionPay International and VisitBritain. Chinese UnionPay will continue to strengthen the understanding, pushing forward the passion of Chinese tourists to visit Britain and play a proactive role in promoting a personnel exchange between China and Britain.”
China – Key Facts & Figures
- China is currently one of the fastest-growing visitor source markets for the UK tourism industry – growing at over 20% year-on-year over the past few years.
- Year to date percentage growth from Jan 2012-Aug 2012 to Jan 2013-Aug 2013 = 14%
- A record 179,000 visitors from China came to Britain in 2012 (up 20%), spending a total £300 million (a rise of 25%). Provisional data for the first half of 2013 shows there to have been 67,000 visits from China to Britain, 21% more than in the first half 2012.
- Compared to five years ago there has been a 25% increase in visits, a 40% increase in nights and a 69% increase in spend.
- 2012 was a record year in terms of both visits and spending, with China now Britain’s 19th most valuable source market.
- The typical visit from China generates £1,680 – almost three times that from the average market.
- 2012 was the first year in which there were more Holiday visitors than there were either Business or VFR visitors to Britain from China.
- China’s global rank for international tourism expenditure: 1st
- Our ambition is to attract 382,000 visits from China by 2016, worth £600 million in annual visitor spend.
- Trade is crucial in the market as 80% of visits are booked through the travel trade. Aviation capacity is also key – both increasing seats on existing routes (as BA did earlier this year with its Shanghai route) and, introducing new routes, as the new route from Chengdu.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
