Norway disappoints Chinese tourists

 

Tourists from China spend more money than anyone else visiting Norway, but they’re also the least satisfied, Norway’s travel authorities have found. The Chinese seem to be most unhappy with hotel service levels, and with the food.

The number of Chinese visitors at Norwegian hotels doubled in July last year from the year before. The increase is expected to continue this year, newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported on Wednesday.

According to Per-Arne Tuftin, tourism director for Innovation Norway, only 41 percent of Chinese tourists were “quite satisfied” with their Norway experience, while 12 percent left Norway “satisfied.” That indicates that almost half the Chinese visitors last year were not happy with their trip to Norway, DN reported.

Meanwhile, 85 percent of Russians are “quite satisfied” and the rest “satisfied,” suggesting no Russian tourists were unhappy.

Tuftin said he and his colleagues really don’t know why satisfaction levels were relatively low.

“Our theory, though, is that the Chinese are used to more service at the hotels,” he told DN.

Chinese visitors may leave Norway dissatisfied because they’re used to staying in Asian hotels that typically have far more staff than Norwegian hotels and are renowned for their high levels of service.

“Perhaps we haven’t been sufficiently clear in our communication. Costs are high in Norway, so tourists can’t expect as many hotel employees here as in Asia.”

Tuftin said Innovation Norway will address the problem, aiming to bring expectations among the Chinese to a more “rational” level.

Vibeke Raddum, an executive at global tour operator Tumlare, suggested that some Asians are also accustomed to a more hierarchical system, and that most Chinese tourists are inexperienced travelers.

“Visitors from mature markets like Japan, Korea and Malaysia probably arrive prepared that there won’t be people everywhere, pulling out their chair and opening doors. But China is a relatively new market,” Raddum told DN.

Source: newsinenglish.no

 

4 Comments on “Norway disappoints Chinese tourists”

  1. Håper de holder seg vekk.Etter måten Kina har behandlet Norge og Norske bedrifter på synes jeg dette var delvis gode nyheter.Kinesere har begynt å tro att de kan kjøpe hele verden og forventer vel at alle skal bukke og nei for dem når de kommer.Dette er selvsagt bare min personlige mening men de kan bare reise til andre land slik at vi får beholde det landet vi er glad i.

  2. Not surprised at all since I have several Chinese friends that have been visiting Norway, and entire Scandinavia in fact, but they have more or less been reluctant to go back since it’s too silent, too vast and way to few people around to make them comfortable. What we highly appreciate being Scandinavians, i.e fresh air, the best drinking water in the world and nature – vast areas with no people around for miles and miles to come, are seen as “spooky” and uncomfortable by my Chinese friends. Out here in Asia we are also extremely spoiled by hotel service, well service what so ever when traveling, but in Scandinavia most hotels close their service long before midnight which is seen as “bad” service from visitors.

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