China Visitors Summit Europe: all the figures of the Chinese market

On November 13, the China Visitor Summit was held, a two-day B-to-B meeting with over 7,000 appointments between over 130 Chinese buyers, representatives of travel agencies and tour operators from the leisure and business world, and 140 sellers from all over the world representing hotel chains, travel agencies, tour operators, airlines and other organizations related to the world of tourism.
 
This event makes us reflect on the trend of Chinese tourism which is recording positive growth trends given the growing appreciation of Italy, and Milan in particular as an attractive destination for luxury, style, and business.
 
The demand for China is enormous: in fact, more than 700,000 people leave for China from Milan (72% of them with indirect flights, that is, with an intermediate connection point). Milan Malpensa serves Beijing and Shanghai, with direct flights operated by Air China, and Nanjing with Neos, the only Italian carrier operating on the Chinese market from Malpensa, developing routes with a great tourist vocation that only the Milan area can support.
 
Chinese tourists increasingly choose Lombardy as the gateway to Italy, which is thus the Italian region with the largest number of Chinese visitors with a trend of + 4% annual growth.
 
In Italy last year there were about 2.1 million Chinese, thanks to its attractiveness resulting from a combination of history, art, luxury brands, confirming itself among the top three European destinations for Chinese arrivals.
 
Shanghai is the first destination chosen in Asia by passengers from Milan (about 230,000 on an annual basis) and the third by far, among those of long-range, from Milan.

Milan is the Italian center of style and luxury, of business, and is an important gateway to Italy, making it definitely an important destination for Chinese travelers. Milan has a long historical connection with China, boasting the second-largest Chinese population in Europe, a bridge between the Chinese who emigrated to Milan and northern Italy and those who, having been born in Italy, are Italian Chinese, but still maintain their cultural links with China, creating commercial activities between China and Italy and the rest of Europe. Milan is, therefore, a very attractive tourist destination, but, at the same time, a business destination for Chinese commercial investments, as well as cultural and social exchanges. Finally, worth mentioning are the luxury brands as an important element of attraction for Milan.
 
Being able to buy the best of Made in Italy and made in Milan while enjoying the aura of Milan style is a key factor in attracting more Chinese travelers.
 
And it is precisely the China Visitors Summit in Milan that reflects on who the new travelers of the Rising Sun made by the Civita e Unindustria Association are in terms of the year 2020, the year of culture and tourism between Italy and China.
 
Today, 150 million tourists from China go abroad. In 2030 it will be 400 million, with the resounding overtaking on the Americans.
 
Of these, half (149 with + 15% on 2017) are directed to Macau and Hong Kong, only 6 million, with a + 20%, arrive in Europe, the first destination outside Asia.
 
In Italy, there have been 5 million Chinese visitors in 2018, 2.4% of international arrivals, with a + 8.2% already in the first six months of 2019.
 
The Chinese tourist is hyper-technological: 1 out of 5 books the trip online, 2 out of 3 use apps, blogs and social networks and 1 in 2 surf regularly on their mobile. Furthermore, it has emerged that it has a good average cost of 2 thousand dollars, for a total of 288 billion dollars, a quarter of the global total.