THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY MUST CHASE AFTER CHINESE TOURISTS

A couple of weeks ago, the government in Kenya signed a Memorandum of Understanding with their Chinese counterparts centred around the tourism industry. Kenya is already on China’s Approved Destination Status.

Notable in the latest document is an open invitation to Chinese investors to build new hotels in Kenya to underpin a plan to attract at least one million Chinese tourists to Kenya each year in the foreseeable future. This a central plank in Kenya’s strategy to revive the sector and a very logical one. 

The Chinese tourist is the flavour of the moment. Even such giants as the United States are clamouring for them. It would be foolish for the East African Community (EAC) countries to ignore the trend. 

Last week, it was reported that Chinese spending in 2014 is expected to top $155 billion. This from some 116 million tourists. It would be very nice if the EAC could pocket some of this cash, depending on how we go about marketing ourselves in this extremely cut throat business. However the gains are worth the effort.

According to consulting group McKinsey, the average disposable income of Chinese households has gone up 10 times to a little more than $3,500, doubling between 1990 and 2000, and rising three to four times since 2000. Chinese per capita disposable income will double again by 2020. That is about $10,000 for a family of three, where the child is of working age. 

With more disposable income the Chinese, have a great desire to travel abroad and discover new things and places, although for the most part that has been confined to countries closer to home, namely South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. Other popular destinations are North America and western Europe, especially France. In Africa, the Chinese predominantly go to South Africa, Egypt and Kenya, but the numbers are not eye-catching yet. 

Consider that some five milion Chinese will have visited South Korea by December this year. Koreans prize them highly, because they are such enthusiastic shoppers each spending an average of $450 daily. A million visited France in 2012 and contributed 7.2% to that country’s GDP according to Tourism Satellite Account. The money did much to keep France on an even keel battered by a slowdown in other areas  of the economy.

The EAC has already agreed to market itself as one destination. The introduction of a Single Visa for three countries earlier this year, was also a significant move to cementing this resolve. But you wonder whether the resolve will hold in an industry that is full of more bickering and back-biting than others?

Fortunately for East Africa, at this very moment, former NBA Chinese basketball player, Yao Ming, is campaigning for the protection of the elephant. He is working with WildAid and Save the Elephants and African Wildlife Foundation.

He is urging his compatriots to stop buying illicit ivory and rhino horn products which has meant the continued slaughter of these animals in the wild. Ming is considered a pioneer, hero and celebrity all rolled into one which has given plenty of weight, (if not height), to his message. He has already visited Kenya and South Africa, resulting in a film that graphically showed the mayhem high Chinese demand for  these wildlife curios has done. The EAC tourism industry can jump aboard the Ming bandwagon by highlighting the beauty that is the elephant’s habitat. East Africa’s scenery is legendary for its never-ending horizons and contrasting landscapes that plunge or soar in a manner rarely found anywhere else. 

Boredom is a double-edged sword in tourism. The more sophisticated Chinese will inevitably tire of Disneyland and the Lourve. Let us be in a position to offer an exciting alternative. Someone once said opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss.

East African Business Week