The Chinese Tourism Podcast

Episode 11 - China’s Summer of Surf

In the September episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by guests, Nicola ‘Nik’ Zanella, coach of the Chinese National Surfing Team (Zhejiang province), and author of ‘Children of the Tide’, and Songbei Zhang, Branding Manager at Shaka Surf. We discuss the origins of Chinese surfing, how it has risen in popularity during the pandemic and the profile of these new Chinese surf tourists.

The July episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast is a collaboration episode with The Middle Earth Podcast. Host William Ace Rowles is joined by co-host Aladin Farré. Guests this month are Dr. Mimi Li, Associate Professor at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Michael Wang, VP of Content at Dragon Trail International. We discuss "Red Tourism" - tourism revolving around sites important to the Chinese Communist Party, and the recent rise in popularity during the 100th anniversary of the Party.

In the April episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by fellow Dragon Trail colleagues Mengfan Wang, Manager of Research and Sienna Parulis-Cook, Director of Marketing and Communications. We discuss our recently released Chinese traveler sentiment survey and how destination safety and friendliness were key factors for future travel plans, as well as the implications of the recent #stopasianhate movement.

In the February episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by Justin Downes, President of Axis Leisure Management, as we discuss Chinese ski tourism, the development of the local winter sports market, and the impact of the upcoming Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

In the January episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by York Lee, Senior Business Development Manager Tripadvisor China, and María Llinares Director of the Spanish Tourism Board, Tourspain in China. Our guests discuss their predictions and thoughts for how travel will develop and change in 2021 and what their organizations' plans are for the China market this year.

In the November episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by Jenni Steele, Film & Creative Industries Manager of VisitScotland, and Film Producer Wang Donghui of films such as The Eight Hundred and Brotherhood of Blades. Our guests discuss from both the film and tourism perspectives how and why film and TV can influence travel and share their own experiences of the interaction between these industries.

In the October episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by Arthur Liu, General Manager of the Inbound Tourism Department at China Tourism Group (CTG), China’s largest tour operator. Arthur discusses how CTG came to be formed in a 2016 merger between CITS and CTS, and how his department have had to refocus on domestic travelers in 2020. The deep dive for this month is focused on how Chinese domestic tourism might evolve post pandemic.

In the September episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by Glen Fu, co-founder of 54traveler (稻草人旅行), one of China’s leading youth travel tour operators. Glen discusses how he founded his company, their customer base and travel style, and how they have had to adapt the business in 2020. The deep dive for this month is focused on Chinese Gen-Z and millennial travelers, looking at this demographic and the characteristics and trends that define them.

In the August episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by Veli Polat, Lufthansa Group Senior Director Sales for Greater China. Veli discusses how Lufthansa Group serves and markets its various airlines to the Chinese consumers, as well as having a deep dive into how the aviation industry has managed through the Covid-19 pandemic period and how Lufthansa Group is operating services now that China has allowed for more international carriers to fly routes in and out of the country.

In the July episode of The Chinese Tourism Podcast, host William Ace Rowles is joined by Dragon Trail Interactive CEO George Cao. We hear from a veteran of the industry about his personal involvement in Chinese tourism and digital marketing over the last two decades, as well as having a deep dive into the trade show industry and how they have gone digital over the Covid-19 period.