China flights offer 'a big boost' to the Highlands
THE introduction of a direct air service between Scotland and China has been welcomed as fantastic news for the Highlands.
Hainan Airlines will begin operating twice weekly direct flights between Edinburgh and Beijing from June.
It will also offer twice weekly flights via Dublin.
The direct link with China follows a campaign by Edinburgh hoteliers for a Scotland-China air route, a campaign endorsed by Highland businessman Willie Cameron.
Mr Cameron, who is business development director with Drumnadrochit catering group Cobbs and creative director of Loch Ness Marketing, is already bringing Chinese tourists to the Highlands after building links with travel company Nanhu Travel.
"It’s a fantastic piece of news because it is going to make it easier for the Chinese tourist, the Chinese visitor and the Chinese businessman to come over here very quickly," Mr Cameron said.
"They are flying straight into Edinburgh and they can be up the road and having a meeting with HIE, Highland Council, VisitScotland, within three hours. Excellent. And it brings Scotland a lot closer to Beijing."
While news of the air link was welcome, Mr Cameron called for more to be done to make things easier for Chinese visitors, such as more businesses accepting Chinese tourists’ preferred payment method, WeChat Pay.
"Chinese tourism is growing very, very quickly, but we need to get things like visas fast-tracked," he said.
"But companies like Loch Ness by Jacobite, and Sea Probe Atlantis on the west coast are getting a tremendous amount of business from China.
"A lot of businesses in the Highlands are putting up pages in Mandarin and Cantonese on their websites and printing leaflets in Chinese, so it is moving."
One of the businesses which already includes a Chinese language option on its website is tour company Loch Ness by Jacobite and its business development manager Robbie Rapson visited China last year to encourage more business between China and the Highlands.
"The first direct flight from China to Scotland offers a tremendous opportunity to tourism businesses in Scotland," he said.
"China is the largest outbound market for tourism in the world and continues to grow at an exciting rate.
"At Loch Ness by Jacobite we have seen a huge increase in the number of Chinese visitors in 2017, who travel the length of the UK to visit the Highlands of Scotland. Having visitors arrive directly into Edinburgh will create a huge opportunity for Scottish tourism businesses as a whole."
Along with an increased number of Chinese tourists in the region, Chinese businesses are also investing in hotels in the Highlands, including hotels in Spean Bridge and Strathpeffer which are wholly or partly Chinese owned.
Further growth in the Chinese tourist market could also help extend the Highland tourism season, with Chinese tourists typically choosing to travel in February and October.
VisitScotland chief executive Maclcolm Roughead welcomed the introduction of a direct air service as "an exciting gear change" for Scottish tourism.
"At our own VisitScotland Expo travel trade fair in Glasgow next month we will be hosting 35 Chinese tour operators, keen to do business with Scotland," he said.
"This announcement by Hainan Airlines will offer further encouragement for them to drive forward their plans to increase the number of Chinese visitors choosing Scotland as their next destination."
