CHINA. Collinson President Asia Pacific Todd Handcock has delivered an upbeat message on the reopening of the Chinese market to international travel and the significant positive impact it will have.
Speaking to CNBC, he described the development as the “last piece in the travel puzzle” and reported an immediate growth in the company’s airport lounge business.
Talking to travel experts and presenters during the American business news channel’s Squawk Box programme, Handcock provided insight based on Collinson’s 1,300-strong portfolio of lounges across 650 airports. That portfolio includes 460 in Asia, of which 233 are in China.
“India and China have had very similar travel trends in the past. So to see that the India market has more than recovered, it bodes well for China as we look forward to the next 12 to 18 months” – Collinson President Asia Pacific Todd Handcock, speaking to CNBC
He noted that Collinson has continued to invest in China in anticipation of the rebound, opening up about 70 new lounges and experiences in Chinese airports over the last 12 months.
“On any given day, we can see what’s happening with recovery, as we have got 1,300 lounges across the world, which gives us a unique perspective,” said Handcock. “We can already see an uptick in terms of visits to our lounges in the last 24 hours across China, including Hong Kong, where we opened a brand new lounge a couple of months ago.”
He continued: “It [the reopening] is significant, when you think that the authorities are predicting there are going be 2 billion domestic trips during Chinese New Year and, if we go back to 2019, there were 166 million overseas trips by Chinese travellers. We’re ready to go as the markets open up.”
On the challenges of staffing lounges in airports to meet demand, Handcock said: “There’s no doubt everywhere in the world, whether it be ourselves in the lounge space, airport operators, ground handlers, food & beverage and retail outlets and the airlines themselves, there’s a labour shortage, and that will temper the acceleration of the growth rate.
“But we see in the medium term, in the next 12 to 18 months, we should be getting back to the pre-COVID numbers [across the Collinson global business].”
The subject of soaring airline ticket prices in China was raised, with CNBC pointing out that a return trip from Shanghai to Hong Kong or Singapore pre-pandemic cost US$300-500 but has now risen to between US$2,000 to US$3,000.
Asked if this would be a “massively prohibitive factor” to growth, Handcock replied: “Absolutely. And we think it’s going to be specifically prohibitive towards the long haul market. So in the coming 12 months we think that because of those ticket prices, people will limit their travel to intra-regional.
“In fact, the Chinese travel agents are saying that Southeast Asia is the top destination; it’s not the long haul to North America and Europe. The beneficiaries will be the Hong Kongs, the Koreas, the Japans, the Thailands and Singapores. A big reason for that is lack of capacity and those ticket prices.”
Handcock identified India as where Collinson is seeing the strongest growth for its airport lounge business, with the market already exceeding pre-COVID levels.
“The United States is doing extremely well for us and our home market of the UK is doing well,” he said. “But the one that’s overachieving all markets right now is India, which I think is promising. India and China have had very similar travel trends in the past. So to see that the India market has more than recovered, it bodes well for China as we look forward to the next 12 to 18 months.” ✈
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