With more Chinese tourists, European operators work to smooth their stay

A second crucial issue to lure more Chinese people was to ensure them a safe journey, since episodes of robbery were registered across Europe, Wang added.

Thirdly, there was a need to make laws and regulations clearer. "We hope the relevant government sectors could better regulate the lawful work of tour operators in Europe, and help protect our federation's members," she said.

"For example, in terms of division of responsibilities between operators in China and those in Europe: who should organize the tourists, who should carry them... We would like the rules to be clearer."

An on-going example of the efforts towards Chinese travelers was provided by the "Welcome Chinese", a certification program, developed by the China Tourism Academy in partnership with Select Holding as operating company.

The project aims at assisting European tourism providers in their distribution strategy on China, and guiding them through the best ways to welcome and assist Chinese clients.

"We have created a simple standard of services, which set a benchmark for all providers dealing with the reception and hosting of Chinese tourists," Jacopo Sertoli, chief executive of Select Holding, told Xinhua.

"The standards include a simple but relevant detail such as having a hot pot in the hotel room, to offering payment systems linked to those in China, to having staff speaking Chinese and also written information in the Chinese language," he explained.

The certification program was open to various entities, such as hotels, airports, museums, theme parks, and shopping centers.

According to the Italian entrepreneur, the more the Chinese tourism flow to Europe grows and diversifies, the larger is the need of tailored services.

"The "new" Chinese tourists make a larger use of new technologies, and they want to travel alone, discover the territory, and do just what they like best," he said.

The chief of the European Federation of Chinese tourism agreed. "We count more than 200 associated members (travel agencies and operators) across Europe, and from their feedback we can see the average profile of the Chinese tourist has changed," Wang confirmed.

"The majority is now made of young travelers and tourists between 30s and 40s. There are more families, and also high-end tourism has increased, while traditional groups have dropped sharply."

Finally, an increasing number of backpackers were looking for new itineraries and in-depth experiences. For them as well, there was "a need of more assistance in Europe".

"For example, we see indications in Chinese in Venice or in Paris airport... We do hope this kind of information could be increasingly available in more airports and in different European cities," Wang said.