German travel industry leader calls for stronger ties with China

German Travel Association president Albin Loidl emphasised the significance of Europe as a serious supply market for Chinese tourism in his keynote on the Sino-European Dialogue at ITB China 2026 on Tuesday, twenty sixth May.

Loidl suggested dignitaries and delegates in attendance that dialogue and mutual understanding are extra vital than ever  in a conflict-ridden world and tourism is likely one of the methods to make these attainable.

He declared: “Tourism has always been much more than an economic activity. Tourism creates trust; it builds culture and family; and tourism transforms the world.”

To transfer the dialogue ahead, Loidl shared a number of key insights on how China may entice extra travellers from the European Union.

Destinations should be fascinating

For many Europeans, fascinating locations are vital, particularly these whose landscapes are vastly completely different from these of their dwelling nations.

Asia, with specific emphasis on China, gives places that provide distance, complexity, and nice factors of curiosity.

However, within the case of Europe, the problem for Chinese travel professionals lies in the truth that the area is definitely a number of main and culturally numerous markets.

As Loidl defined: “German travelers behave very differently from French travelers. Nordic travelers differ from Southern Europeans. And, in general, they each ask themselves ‘What story will I bring home? What emotional value does this journey bring?’”

For these curious travellers, China may supply all of the solutions to their questions due to its millennia of historical past, alongside with the innovative applied sciences which have put it on the forefront of the worldwide digital financial system.

No rejection right here

Loidl additionally cleared up a standard false impression that European travellers reject China as a leisure vacation spot.

As he put it: “Travellers do not reject China; that’s an important distinction. But going to China poses issues for Europeans even before departure. The challenges posed by visa application, flight costs and booking, and tourist systems that are difficult to navigate fall into this category.”

Nevertheless, the enlargement of visa-free insurance policies for a number of international locations have despatched a strong message: China is open and welcomes worldwide guests.

Loidl went on to say: “From the perspective of the travel industry, I therefore believe that European travelers expect familiar and simple payment solutions, language accessibility, along with improved connectivity and communication networks. These may appear like technical details, but, in truth, these are conversion factors.”

Meaningful interplay

At the identical time, European travellers more and more search significant cultural experiences.

They need to have the ability to work together with the native folks and listen to their tales as storytelling is a good bridge between these of various cultures.

Loidl mentioned: “We have to build culture and history with the everyday life of locals. Let the visitors compare their own cultural settings with that of the people they are visiting and discover the differences and similarities. It’s always great to witness that people share so much in common, no matter how near or far apart they are.”

In this context, China’s cultural richness, variety, and scale of experiences are really extraordinary, providing European travellers one thing utterly completely different and enlightening.

With that mentioned, the important thing to future progress for inbound tourism from Europe lies not solely in lively promotion of main locations, but in addition training, accessibility, and emotional connection between travellers and locals alike.