Emerging markets discussed at Caribbean tourism event

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique — Chinese travelers like to shop, Russian tourists want beaches and Brazilian visitors love nightlife.

Generalities all, but interesting facets of the top emerging outbound markets nonetheless.

These factoids and others took center stage at a PowerPoint presentation during the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s recent industry conference here.

“With rising levels of income, the emerging economies of China, Brazil and Russia have shown the fastest growth, displacing the traditional source markets for international tourism of Europe and the Americas,” said Paul Cohen, vice president of Optriant, a division of Preferred Hospitality Group.

• China ranked first in international tourism spend, $102 billion in 2012, up from seventh place in 2005. It has overtaken Germany ($84 billion) and the U.S. ($83 billion).

• Russia moved up to fifth place in 2012 international spend rankings, totaling $43 billion.

• Brazil soared 50% in international tourism spend from 2009 to 2010, moved up another 30% in 2011 and continued to a total spend of $20 billion in 2012, moving up to 12th place in the rankings.

“Already the Chinese middle class is larger than the population of the U.S., and the high-income young professionals are driving the consumer-spending segment,” Cohen said.

Although travel agents still dominate the booking channel in China, the use of online agents is growing rapidly, particularly for long-haul trips.

Destinations that want to attract this market have a bit of housekeeping to do.

For example, hotels need to tweak restaurant menus to include congee (a rice-based breakfast dish), add Chinese TV stations in guestrooms along with tea kettles and slippers and hire Mandarin-speaking staff.

“Modifying visa policies to permit Chinese tourists’ entrances on a U.S. visa will go a long way toward increasing visitor numbers,” Cohen said.

Another suggestion from Cohen: “Develop a Chinese website, and host your website in China to avoid potential censorship, achieve faster download speeds and improve placement on search engine Baidu, which has more than 80% market share in China,” he said.

As for Russia, tourists are adventurous and they like spas, sports, good food and drink, warm weather, beaches and some culture and history thrown into the mix.

“The Russian market has traveled to Cuba for years,” Cohen said. “They’re ready now to explore other Caribbean destinations, but there’s competition out there with Vietnam, Thailand, Florida and the Adriatic competing for this slice of the pie.”

He also advised Caribbean tourism companies to focus on the group and charter markets in Russia.

Brazilian travelers “like entertainment and nightlife: last to bed, first to rise and they don’t spend much time in their hotel rooms,” he added.

Top three destinations for Brazilians are the U.S., Latin America and Europe, with travel spend the highest in the U.S., averaging $5,000 per trip.

Younger Brazilians favor independent travel and set the bar high for standards of service and luxury, according to Cohen.

Destinations that welcome the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) market appeal to Brazil’s 9 million LGBT population.

“This segment represents a large opportunity for destinations willing to show their commitment to this market through appropriate staff training, tailored communications and the delivery of goods and services that reflect the concerns of this growing market,” Cohen said.

The meetings segment also has potential as Brazil’s economy grows and more companies stage conventions and conferences outside Brazil.

In fact, the Caribbean represents “a highly desirable location for all segments of the Brazilian outbound market,” he said. “It’s close, it’s got accessible airlift and most Caribbean countries allow Brazilians to travel without a visa.”

Follow Gay Nagle Myers on Twitter @gnmtravelweekly.