Close marking of Chinese airlines for 1 million tourists

THY has 34 flights, Chinese companies have none

Close marking of Chinese airlines for 1 million tourists

Efforts continue to increase the number of flights from China to Türkiye, the biggest obstacle to reaching the targeted figure of 1 million Chinese tourists. The absence of flights by Chinese airlines to Türkiye, and consequently the low number of flights, is hindering the development of the Chinese tourism market, prompting tourism professionals to keep a close watch on Chinese companies. On the initiative of the Association of Turkish Hoteliers, a delegation made up of senior officials from TÜROB as well as the Istanbul Governorship, THY and TTYD is conducting talks in China.

Efforts continue to increase the number of flights from China to Türkiye, the biggest obstacle to reaching the targeted figure of 1 million Chinese tourists. While THY has 34 flights a week from this country, the absence of flights by Chinese airlines to Türkiye, and consequently the low number of flights, is hindering the development of the Chinese tourism market, prompting tourism professionals to keep a close watch on Chinese companies. The Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB), which has been working intensively to increase the number of tourists from China, continues its close watch on this tourism market. On TÜROB's initiative, a delegation was formed with the participation of senior officials from TÜROB as well as the Istanbul Governorship, Turkish Airlines (THY) and the Turkish Tourism Investors Association (TTYD). The delegation travelling to China will hold talks to increase the number of flights to Türkiye. Among the airlines the delegation will meet with are China Southern and Hainan Airlines, which are among the country's largest companies. The delegation will also hold contacts with senior executives of Xian-Xianyang Airport as well as various companies.

If flights do not increase, 300,000 at most will come

Making an assessment on the subject, the President of the Association of Turkish Hoteliers (TÜROB) Timur Bayındır stated that the talks would be results-oriented and that Chinese companies would most likely increase their flights to Türkiye. Bayındır reiterated his view that it is not right to harbour great expectations from this market without an increase in the number of flights by Chinese airlines. Bayındır also stated that Chinese companies launching flights to Türkiye would create a positive perception of Türkiye in that country. In a statement he made earlier, Bayındır drew attention to the aircraft shortage regarding the Chinese tourism market, saying: "If all of China wanted to come to Türkiye, only 300,000 people could come per year with the current flight capacity. Flights from China to Türkiye absolutely must increase. The target of 1 million Chinese tourists is an achievable figure. As long as transport is made possible."

Intense contact traffic

Bayındır had expressed the following views: "In the work we have carried out as TÜROB, we have set out to establish the necessary connections for China Southern to resume direct flights to Istanbul, as it did in previous years. We hope that these flights will resume in 2018 and that traffic will increase. In this way, THY will in turn increase its flights to China. We continue to make high-level visits. THY flying to key points such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou is an important opportunity, but it is not enough. Considering that, with the limited number of seats and flights, not all of this figure flies directly with our country as the destination, expecting 1 million tourists from China will not be a realistic target. Therefore, in addition to THY, we need to take swift initiatives for Chinese airlines to operate Istanbul flights as well. The booking tendencies of Chinese tourists are 70 percent individual and 30 percent through agencies. The segment that comes to our country is mostly the group bookings within that 30 percent share. That is, the groups that come are Chinese travellers who come within a certain programme and flight availability and who purchase budget packages. In order for us to reach our 1 million quota and the spending Chinese traveller, we need to give the Chinese the freedom to fly."

247,000 Chinese came in 2017

From China to Türkiye, 114,000 tourists came in 2012, 138,000 in 2013, 199,000 in 2014 and 313,000 in 2015. In 2016, 167,000 Chinese tourists came, a 46 percent decline compared to the previous year. In 2017, 247,000 Chinese visited Türkiye, a 47 percent increase. In the first quarter of this year, 98,000 Chinese tourists came, a significant increase of 98 percent compared to the first quarter of last year. While the number of Chinese travelling abroad was 107 million in 2014, this figure rose to 117 million in 2015 and 122 million in 2016. The annual spending of Chinese tourists at the global level exceeded 110 billion dollars.