Chinese check in to check it out

Building Brics: Abu Dhabi is rapidly gaining the attention of the Chinese tourist market as the country's new consumers classes aspire to the very height of luxury.

Under the eye of the clock: Chinese tour operators listen to pitches from UAE tourism representatives at the Yas Viceroy Hotel. Fatima Al Marzooqi/ The National

As Wen Jiabao addresses China's biggest trading partners at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, hundreds of China's economic diplomats are returning from Abu Dhabi having forged a new link in the chain of commerce with the UAE - the hotel industry.

At the Yas Viceroy Hotel last week, a clock projected on to a huge cinema screen ticked down from above, while below, Chinese tour operators raced between pitches from representatives of Yas Waterworld, Ferrari World and the finest hotels in Abu Dhabi.

Since the UAE was approved as a tourist destination by Beijing in 2009, rapidly growing numbers of Chinese tourists have opened up a lucrative opportunity for hoteliers in the Emirates.

With more than 100 flustered delegates at the hotel hoping to make a good impression on some of China's biggest tour operators, the talks were more reminiscent of speed dating than business introductions.

That impression was also illustrated by the fact demand for meetings was such that pitches had to be concluded and deals struck within 20 minutes.

"The Chinese travel market has been increasing rapidly," says Professor Dai Bin, the president of the China Tourism Academy (CTA), the country's tourism think tank. "We also hope that more UAE travellers will travel to China and learn about Chinese culture."

Tourist travel between the two nations was being fostered as a starting point for business relations and a key pillar of China's economic diplomacy, he adds.

"We think business can only start with people communicating," he says. "From that, we can learn more about each other and other cooperation [can develop]."

Last year, Chinese outbound tourists to the UAE numbered 203,440, according to the CTA. Between January and July this year, Chinese tourists to the Emirates totalled 141,066 and the figure is on track to exceed last year's total.

The CTA expects a quarter of a million arrivals to the UAE by the end of this year, out of about 80 million Chinese tourists globally.

They are also providing a boon to the UAE's high-end retailers.

Even though some signs point to Chinese consumer spending falling short of the sky-high expectations of previous years - shares in Burberry fell 18 per cent yesterday after the fashion retailer pointed to lower than expected demand from China and warned it would miss profit targets - the country's travel market is so large it is viewed as a lucrative and largely untapped opportunity for local hotel operators.

A recent survey by Visa revealed China as the fifth-highest spending nationality among the UAE's tourists last year, but Chinese tourists splashed more cash per transaction than any other nationality in the top 10.

That is partially explained by purchases in Dubai often being about half the price of Chinese shops, said Alexander Glos, the chief executive of i2i Group, a travel industry consultancy and publishing company.

"Import duties on premium brands can range from 50 per cent to 150 per cent," he said.

"If you're planning on doing US$10,000 (Dh36,729) worth of shopping, it's cost-efficient."

The UAE's luxury hotel operators were quickly retooling to catch up with the sizeable Chinese tourist market, Mr Glos said.

In the same way they put hamburgers on their menus and subscribed to CNN to appeal to American tourists in the past, hotels and restaurants are now coming well stocked with green tea, dim sum offerings and Chinese newspapers.

The UAE's luxury hotels were the biggest draw for Chinese tourists, says Bu Ming, the deputy general manager of Shanghai China Travel International, a tour operator with annual turnover of 300 million yuan (Dh173.78m), which takes groups of tourists to the UAE.

"The most attractive thing is the unique hotels," he said, pointing to the Emirates Palace, the Burj Al Arab and Anantara's Qasr Al Sarab desert resort.