‘Prepare for wave of Chinese tourists’

Professor Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, CEO, COTRI, explains how recovery from COVID-19 is possible April onwards.

Professor Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt provides a different perspective on the recovery and growth of outbound tourism from China post the COVID-19 outbreak in December last year. He says that past numbers are proof that as far as previous epidemics such as SARS and MERS are concerned, demand came back stronger, and a recovery from COVID-19’s impact on tourism should be no different. Looking at the total number of trips from China between 2002 and 2010, he says, “Even in 2003, which saw no Chinese travelling outside of China, the number of trips was 3.5 million higher for the whole year.” COTRI is forecasting a 7% growth rate for 2020. “Hence, now is a good time to prepare for next wave of Chinese travellers,” he claims.