- The Seychelles Tourism Board was present at the 4th Dong Luxury Travel Connection Workshop in China at the end of April.
- Founded in 2018 by Dong, a sister company of the 8 Continents Travel Agency, the trade event focused on the luxury tourism sector within China.
- As China slowly starts to function again, the workshop created the perfect opportunity to reconnect with the old and meet new luxury trade partners within the market and discuss the way forward in the new normal.
The 2021 Connection Workshop witnessed the participation of nearly 200 buyers and suppliers across China and other countries including Seychelles.
During the three-day event, the STB Team had 64 meetings, with 39% new buyers and trade partners within the market, updating them and sharing information about what the island destination has to offer to its potential guests.
Although the pandemic has changed the travel world, Chinese travellers have not lost their passion for discovering far off places. The Labour Day holiday witnessed strong domestic demand for tourism resulting from the successful control of the pandemic and rising vaccination rate within China. According the official Chinese media’s reports, Chinese tourists made around 230 million trips over the past May holiday as domestic travel surpassed pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels.
“As Seychelles reopened its borders at the end of March, we have been working with our different partners in the Chinese market to welcome Chinese visitors back to the Seychelles. This has slowly been picking up, as we have been seeing overseas Chinese visitors travelling to Seychelles by booking their trips through our different trade partners within China. This was also a hot topic during the Dong Luxury Roadshow, as the Chinese luxury travel trade have large networks of overseas Chinese clientele.”, said Mr Jean-Luc Lai-Lam, Director for the Seychelles Tourism Board in China.
“The Chinese market is a tactical market and the Dong Luxury Roadshow gives us the opportunity to meet our luxury partners under one roof, keep the destination visible, promote our new niches (e.g., workcation), address any concerns and prepare for the reopening of the Chinese market when interest in overseas travel and revenge travelling is at their highest.”, added Mr Lai-Lam.
According to Forbes’ recent April publication, 5 out of the top 10 cities in the world with the most billionaires are from China and these include Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.