The development of Chinese outbound tourism in recent years (129 million tourists in the world and 12.8 million in Europe) has given rise to a growing interest in research that studies Chinese people’s perception of European destinations and tourism services.

 

An innovative survey investigating Chinese tourism in Venice and Europe, jointly presented by B-sm@rk and Venice Marco Polo Airport, started in November 2017 and involved about 3000 Chinese people both in Venice and China.

 

Among the motivations that attract them to visit Europe, culture and relaxation stand out. In accordance with these results, their travel experiences are also related to culture and recreational motivations. The most chosen types of accommodation are B&B and luxury hotels and Italian cities (Venice, Rome, Milan and Florence) are among their preferred destinations in Europe.

 

As regards Chinese tourists’ perception of Venice, from the survey it emerged that they have a great desire to visit this city, recognized as one of their preferred destinations in Europe. They described it as exciting, hospitable and sophisticated, using the parameters of the Destination Personality model. and gave high values to all the dimensions of the Brand Personality scale (Responsible, Active, Aggressive and Emotional), except for Simple (which characterizes places perceived as ordinary).

 

Considering the growing popularity of Venice, then it is obvious that the airport of Venice appears among the most used airports by Chinese tourists. However, the lack of a direct flight from China makes it easier for Chinese tourists to choose other European and Italian airport for their travels. Consequently, one of the most significant results of the survey is that 80% of the respondents agreed that there should be a direct flight from China to Venice.

 

Furthermore, some interesting aspects about the Millennials category emerged. It appears that Millennials generally have a more pronounced preference for Venice compared to the other socio-demographic groups and identify more easily with it. Therefore, they are also more prone to promote it as a tourist destination among their friends.

 

All these aspects should be taken into consideration to further promote Venice and the airport, seizing the opportunities given by the EU-China tourism year: for example, actions targeting specific groups (e.g. Chinese Millennials) could be implemented, or tailor-made offers for people travelling with a partner or some friends could be devised, but most of all, at the time being, there is a necessity to launch a direct flight from China to Venice.