Agencies partner to combat flagging London tourism

Travel companies are stepping up efforts to attract tourists to London as the number of Chinese visitors to the British capital is expected to head for a decline, according to new data.

UK-based tour operator Leisure Pass Group, also called LPG, and Shanghai-based online booking agency Ctrip have entered into a partnership that aims to generate Chinese visitor growth to attractions in London.

“The partnership with Ctrip brings together their unrivalled reach and knowledge in the Chinese outbound tourism market with our expertise in designing and operating multi-attraction passes in the world’s leading cities,” said John Owen, LPG chief commercial officer.

Under the partnership, Ctrip will offer its clients a Chinese version of the London Pass produced by LPG, which provides access to and information on 80 popular sites including the Tower of London, Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey.

The pass also includes hop-on hop-off bus tours, Thames river cruises and access to “hidden gem” attractions. Ctrip and LPG will provide a similar offering in New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and Paris later this year.

“We believe this will be a game-changer for our featured attractions in the target cities, helping them to capitalize on the record numbers of Chinese consumers now travelling overseas,” Owen said.

The London Pass will be marketed under the Dolphin Pass brand which Ctrip launched in April.

Liao Weiping, deputy general manager of Ctrip’s overseas activities department, said he anticipates the partnership will streamline the Chinese traveler experience in London.

“They will provide our travelers with easy, convenient access to a comprehensive range of experiences, saving time and money at the same time,” Liao said. “We are very excited by the potential this partnership offers.”

The partnership comes in the wake of new data that shows a significant slowing in Chinese tourism to the UK.

A report from flight analyst ForwardKeys found that Chinese arrivals into Britain from January to April this year registered zero growth on the same period in 2017, while visits to Europe as a whole increased by 9.5 percent.

ForwardKeys forecasts that Chinese visits to the UK will decrease by 5.7 percent in the second quarter of this year. London will experience a greater drop of 10.1 percent, according to the company, whereas other popular destination cities including Paris, Rome, Amsterdam and Barcelona will all register positive growth.

ForwardKeys Chief Executive Olivier Jager said the strengthening of the pound has contributed to this trend. The currency is recovering from a period of depreciation following the UK referendum on European Union membership.

“Our findings partly demonstrate the impact that currency fluctuations can have on a destination,” Jager said. “US and Chinese visitors took advantage when (pound) sterling was weaker, now they’re reacting the other way as the pound recovers.”

While interest in the UK is cooling among travelers, more Chinese tourists are hitting the road than ever before. China's outbound travelers made a record 130 million overseas trips last year and spent $115.29 billion, according to the United Nations' World Tourism Organization. This represents a 7 percent increase in trips and a 5 percent rise in overseas spending compared with 2016.