Tomorrow, February 15, will be the peak of travel as millions of Chinese and their diaspora make the journey to wherever home is to gather for their Lunar New Year reunion dinners.
You can already feel it in Penang, when the population of the island more than triples with the return of Penangites to their hometown as well as travellers from across the region taking advantage of the holiday break.
The other night, I watched two young Chinese couples getting out of their Grab to check into the Rainforest guesthouse in Georgetown. It’s a hole-in-the-wall guesthouse, one of hundreds that have opened within the heritage zone to cater to the growing hordes of tourists who want to experience the Penang they’ve seen on social media – its food, street art, shophouses, cafes and hidden bars.
Accenture Research, in its latest Travel Flash Research Chinese Insights (February 2018), shares three key highlights from its study, one of which is, “unlike travellers from other countries, Chinese travellers prefer more intimate accommodation when they travel such as staying at a bed and breakfast or with friends and family – for both leisure and business travel”.
Penang getting set for Lunar New Year
I see this trend definitely unfolding in Penang. Young, independent Chinese travellers are seeking out and staying in alternative types of accommodation, which offer a less formal and structured type of stay.
The first highlight identified in the Accenture Research pertains to retail. Said the report, “they have significantly higher levels of participation in retail shopping both in airports and onboard flights”.
Which is presumably why World Duty Free at Heathrow Airport this week thought they should set a higher amount of spending for Chinese tourists versus other nationalities before they qualified for a discount, leading to a huge outcry by Chinese travellers of “racism” and “discrimination”.
It reminds me of the days in Hong Kong when hotels would have special (read higher) rates for Japanese guests, leading to charges of “racism” and “discrimination”.
It seems we never learn.
The second key highlight in the Accenture Research said that “they seem to be far less price conscious than their travel counterparts in other parts of the world. Particularly as it relates to shopping and with the accommodation options they choose while travelling.”
So it’s not only the sheer numbers of Chinese travellers the world has got to get used to as well as their different motivations and behaviours, but also our perceptions of them. Sure, there are still the masses of budget tour groups but more and more, there are independent Chinese willing to travel further to less traditional destinations and happy to spend more on experiences. Let’s respect that.
CUAsia- the times, they are a-changing, with a new generation wanting more from life than a corporate job
Last weekend, too, Penang hosted the fourth edition of CUAsia – Coworking Unconference Asia. Over four days, about 300 entrepreneurs and owners of co-working spaces across the region as well as some from outside the region gathered to talk about common issues, challenges and opportunities in their space.
I know there’s been an explosion in co-working spaces in Asia in the last two years but I was taken aback by how many there are in Malaysia alone. From Kuala Lumpur to Kuching, the times, they are a-changing, with a new generation wanting more from life than a corporate job. I met a woman from Japan who’s dreaming of creating a co-working space in Tokyo and a French man living in Bali wanting to learn how he can create a commune of like-minded folks. The term “co-living” was bandied about a lot, with very vague definitions of what that meant.
I grew up in a big house that had been sub-let to at least 10 families, mine being one of them. My parents and three of us lived in one room and we shared common facilities including a huge compound in which to run around. I grew up with no notion of privacy, just that everything was meant to be shared. During the flower power era, hippie communes were the rage. And as developed countries grapple with their own ageing crisis, “assisted living” communities are what every real estate developer wants to build.
So the idea of “co-living” – people living together, and sharing facilities, collaborating, co-creating – is not new, just how it’s applied today.
February 16 will herald the Year of the Dog. For Chinese everywhere, the new year means a chance to start things afresh. Family ties are renewed, vows of filial piety strengthened, houses spring-cleaned, new clothes worn and joss-sticks burnt to pray for a new year of good fortune and prosperity.
It’s a good time to look at things anew. Things are changing rapidly not only with new technology (that’s only part of it) but also a new generation of world citizens with different aspirations.
The Dog is man’s best friend, known for its loyalty and playfulness. May we all stay loyal to who we love and what we believe in, and remain playful – for what’s the point of anything if it ain’t for fun and happiness.
