China's Outbound Tourism and COTTM are not dead – they just smell funny

Dear reader,

What an interesting week I spent in China. Crossing the border from Macau SAR using the new control point Hengqin for the first time, afterwards driving in a BYD limousine of a helpful MUST student for the first time to the railway station in Zhuhai. Still fascinated by the fact that the scanning of my passport gives me access to the right platform and the right train for the short trip to Guangzhou based on an online purchase made in Kathmandu.

In Guangzhou your humble editor enjoyed the hospitality of the friends from GITF Guangzhou International Travel Fair, working together on an even more exciting fair and conference for 2025, with a Hunan food lunch and a traditional Cantonese dinner in a restaurant dating back to 1888 added.

In Hangzhou your humble editor had the honour to be invited for a meeting and a dinner with the Secretary General of the World Tourism Alliance, based on a beautiful island in a lake in Sung Dynasty style buildings and interior garden.

The train ride from Hangzhou to Beijing confirms the impression of earlier trips: At the outskirts of every city passing groups of 20 to 30 identical high rise residential buildings rising from the ground in the middle of nowhere with no visible infrastructure like shops, kindergarten, government offices etc. and obviously not occupied. The Real Estate crisis is jumping into the face of the observer.

In Beijing more talks with friends and colleagues and again the recurring topic of a “transitional” phase, focused on even by Chinese who rather strictly followed the party line and would defend China against any perceived criticism in previous meetings. Nobody seems to be sure how the future will look like and for any change in China the old caveat Beware of what you wish for! might be the right approach. Still, China is a country of technological marvel, with face recognition and mobile payments being only a few examples.

The results for the October Golden Week just in show that the Chinese travelled again more, while spending less, both domestically as well as outbound. The COTTM continues to struggle bravely, with only half a hall filled and Egypt, Belarus and Kazakhstan as the main exhibitors. The Nepal stand provides some authentic atmosphere, promoting the NICE Nepal India China Expo event at the end of February 2025.

As always, all best wishes from Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt and the whole COTRI INTELLIGENCE team!