KOCHI: Chinas emerging class of young, educated and resource-rich travel lovers are passionate about visiting countries, especially in the East and South Asia, but India is yet to figure in their top eight destinations, an international conclave was told here on Thursday.
Kerala, as one of Indias leading tourist destinations, must strive to latch on to this new trend of graduates from China below 35 years touring abroad mostly with families, Beijing-based Richard Matuzevich of the World Tourism Cities Federation told the International Conference on Tourism Technology (ICTT).
The third edition of the two-day ICTT, being organised by the Association of Tourism Trade Organisations, India (ATTOI) in collaboration with the Kerala governments Department of Tourism, began here on Thursday.
At the opening session titled How to do Social Media Tourism Promotion to get Chinese Tourists, "Matuzevich noted the worlds most populous country today has its financially well-off segment keen to show their peers that we have been there, done this and that."
With a monthly income ranging between 2,400 and 3,400 US dollars, a chunk of them can speak foreign languages as well, he said.
Addressing the delegates comprising tour operators, hoteliers, owners of resorts and homestays, SEO (search engine optimisation) companies, software firms, social media marketing companies and bloggers, he said the average time such Chinese tourists spent on a visit abroad was nine to 10 days in a country.
He noted that India, particularly Kerala, offered enormous opportunities to woo Chinese tourists.
ICTT 2019 comes in the backdrop of increased travel by the people of China across the globe, said ATTOI convener P.K. Anish Kumar. From what was 13.1 crores in 2017, the projected figure of Chinese tourists abroad is 20 crores next year, he noted about their annual rise of around 20 per cent.
The two-day event seeks to bring various stakeholders of travel and tourism on to a single platform.