Getting Chinese Tourists on Board

In 2012, over 83 million Chinese tourists travelled abroad and spent more than €75 billion overseas, making China the world’s largest outbound tourism market. Dreamboat, a Czech SME providing travel services for tourists and business groups from Asia, began to gain a foothold in this booming market in 2012. The company identified European cruise trips as a niche market that has not yet been fully exploited in China, and began to partner with Chinese companies and the Czech Tourism Office in China to organise Danube River cruise trips for Chinese tourists.

The EU SME Centre supported Dreamboat during its early stage of establishment in China. The Centre’s free hot-desking service provided its staff a professional working environment while it was developing partnerships with local travel agencies in Beijing. The Centre’s guidelines and webinars explaining changes in China’s visa rules also kept the company informed of updates that affected its employees working in China.

Among the advice offered to SMEs preparing to do business in China, Zofia Guranova, the company’s China sales manager, mentioned that conducting proper due diligence on potential Chinese partners is one of the most important first steps to take.