In the past, there were many luxury tours to China that offered customers luxury experiences. For example, the US company Huffman Travel planned to organize many luxury tours to China in the spring of 2020, but then the majority of tourists (all Americans) decided to cancel their trips rather than rebook.
Chinese tourism heavily affected by the pandemic
Ms. Shawna Huffman Owen, President and CEO of Huffman Travel, said that after China closed its borders from March 28, travel agencies specializing in providing super-luxury tours to China for the wealthy customer segment were very worried, because they feared that luxury tourism would need more time to recover than other types of tourism after the pandemic.
“People’s lives in general are different now… With border closures and quarantine procedures… it’s difficult for our customers to commit to a big trip… I believe they want to play it safe and choose more secure destinations…” Ms. Owen analyzed.
According to Ms. Owen, although many wealthy customers cannot wait to be able to travel on luxury tours to Italy, New Zealand, etc., only a few people choose other destinations in Asia instead of China. While she does not have much hope that this very potential market can reopen to customers of the company before 2022.
China unlikely to reopen before 2022
“The ultra-luxury travel market seems to be largely about ‘reassurance’ for travelers traveling in small groups, focusing on high standards of safety and hygiene, so I think there is hope when borders reopen,” said Simon Hudson, Professor of Tourism at the University of South Carolina and author of “Covid-19 and Tourism: Impact, Response and Outcome.”
Mr Hudson also predicts that demand for chartered planes and luxury private villas will continue to rise. For complete peace of mind, “high-end” travelers may even bring their own food and private chefs on their tours.
Mr. Guy Rubin - Managing Partner of Imperial Tours (one of the leading companies operating super luxury tours to China) emphasized that the hope that his company can start operating in China from March 2021 is still unlikely to come true. Therefore, travel agencies should soon look for other potential alternative destinations.
