Recently the airline Cathay Pacific opened a new route between Copenhagen and Hong Kong. Scandinavian Airlines has weekly departures to both Shanghai and Beijing. Just a week ago the launch of Air China’s new route with four weekly departures to the Chinese capital took place. The opening of the new route was celebrated with a ceremony at Copenhagen Airport.
“We expect to see another increase in Chinese tourists in the summer, and with Air China’s new route, Chinese travellers will have even easier access to Denmark as a destination,” the Danish Minister for Business Brian Mikkelsen explains to Politiken.
Including the new Air China route there are 11 direct weekly flights between Copenhagen and Beijing. This will make Denmark more attractive as a tourist destination as the flights will be more flexible for tourists. According to the Minister for Business, negotiations are underway on another direct route between Denmark and China.
“I am positive we will get more direct routes between Copenhagen and China. The Chinese do not have long vacations, so it is crucial for Danish tourism that they can fly directly. I think we are well covered on routes to Beijing and Shanghai. Now we also have routes from some of the other million cities, where the middle class is also growing and spending more money,” Brian Mikkelsen explains.
The Air China’s Airbus A330-200 flight lasts less than 10 hours and seats 237 passengers.
VisitDenmark: Making Denmark more attractive as a tourist destination
The Chinese tourism in Denmark will hopefully increase this year as a result of the new routes and the China-Denmark Tourism Year in 2017. This is at least what the director of VisitDenmark Flemming Bruhn hopes for.
VisitDenmark has made a series of selected travel routes for Chinese tourists in Denmark, which will inspire them to experience more of Denmark and stay longer.
“We want to show the Chinese that Denmark has more to offer than Copenhagen. We hope that the selected routes can help,” Flemming Bruhn explains to Politiken.
The selected routes guide the Chinese to art museum Louisiana or Tirpitz in Jutland, which features exhibitions on the Atlantic Wall, the west coast of Denmark, and an amber collection. There is a route to Egeskov Castle on the island Funen, and also guides to Christmas markets, oyster safaris and amber hunting.
VisitDenmark hopes to attract the Chinese tourists to Denmark during all seasons with these selected routes.
“With the new initiatives, we expect a good year with a 5-10 percent growth in Chinese tourists staying the night,” Flemming Bruhn concludes.
