China has started welcoming back foreign visitors, but the South African market’s response has been somewhat cool.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced that all visas issued prior to Covid border closures still remained valid and would be reactivated, and that the issuance of all visas had resumed.
But Travel News’ recent poll found 80% of responding agents said corporate travel among South Africans to China is not recovering well. Wendy Wu, previously the largest agency dealing with Chinese travel is no longer represented in South Africa, mainly due to difficulties following the pandemic, including challenges around China travel, the rate of exchange against the Rand, and availability.
Speaking to Travel News about demand for travel to China, Sue Garrett, General Manager Supply, Pricing & Marketing at Flight Centre said: “From an air perspective, we have concrete data for approximately two months given that airlift into China has only recently started again.” Referring specifically to flight bookings to China, she said: “To date, we have seen a recovery to only 33% of pre-Covid levels and this has predominantly been driven by leisure sales, accounting for 80% of these ticket sales.
“From a land perspective (leisure market accommodation), there is low demand, however, we have noticed bookings coming through since January 2023 which is likely to increase as consumer confidence in travel to China grows.
“If we look at 2023 data to date, compared with the same period pre-Covid, leisure land bookings are down -22%. Land bookings have only started to pick up this year, which is understandable given China's position.”
Angela Yang from Harvey World Travel Feizhong Cyrildene in Johannesburg handles bookings to China, many for Mandarin speakers. By contrast, she says she’s been experiencing big demand for travel to China after the three years of the pandemic, especially among corporate travellers, but accommodating them has been a challenge.
With airlines being short-staffed post-Covid, she says Air China, Qatar and Singapore Airlines flights are very full. “The available capacity of only 80% of the pre-Covid seats is not enough – and it will only catch up by 2025,” she claims. “Lots of people are going for business and studying, like they did pre-Covid,” she says.
Benjamin Zhang, CEO of China Experience Trade & Tours in Gqeberha says the majority of his clients are non-Mandarin speaking South African businesspeople.
Zhang explained that when China started opening its borders, SA was among the first 20 destinations approved for Chinese travellers going out into the world. Now, Air China is currently flying direct to Johannesburg, while Emirates, Qatar and Etihad are also offering China flights and Cathay Pacific is expected to begin in July/August.
And, with over 10 international conventions now happening in China, the business side of things is slowly picking up. Of the enquiries he’s had, 90% were for trade fairs and the remaining 10 % for VFR and students.
What are the most popular cities and attractions among foreigners visiting China? Zhang says these would have to include Guangzhou in the south, China’s third-largest city and manufacturing centre. He said business travellers focus on the cities of Shanghai, the country’s commercial centre, and Nanjing, a key business and culture centre and one of the country’s four great ancient capitals.
According to Zhang, the leisure market will take time to bounce back. He says our shrinking Rand poses a problem for local travellers wanting to visit China, and the cost of living there has increased. “One Yuan now converts to R2,50, which would have got you R2 in 2019,” he said.
China’s huge population with millions of domestic travellers has further led to hotel rates shooting up by 20 – 25%, says Zhang. Before Covid, one night’s stay at an average three-star hotel for example, would have cost us R1 000 per room – this would now be sold for around R1 250.
On the positive side, he says China has started relaxing its visa process. A two-week stay does not require a visa and for longer stays that do, getting one is a straightforward process.
Zhang adds that with the current Chinese tourism marketing situation in South Africa there’s no promotion or destination training being done for China.
He is hopeful that Chinese delegations will attend the 15th BRICS forum being hosted by South Africa in August and at the same time bring coverage on opportunities for South Africa-China travel.
“Within the next two years we’ll be back to the usual picture. China has lots to offer, including culture and performing arts. First there’ll be the people-to-people exchange of SA-China commercial delegations and later the leisure will follow.”
