Why don’t the Chinese travel to Denmark?

Even though the number of Chinese who travel abroad is on the rise, Denmark receives fewer visits than, for example, Norway and Sweden. Moreover, Denmark’s share of the Chinese tourist market is still small. The reason is that growth in the number of visits to both countries is higher than in Denmark, even though Copenhagen represents a relatively popular destination. From 2013 to 2015 Chinese tourism in Norway grew by 77 percent and in Sweden by 36 percent, whereas in Denmark it was 30 percent.
 
As a result a new project will study what causes Chinese tourists to choose or to skip Denmark.
“The project is extremely interesting and the bar is high regarding its potential impact on Danish tourism. I’m also very excited about seeing how it will influence the way Chinese consumers view Danish products once they’ve visited Denmark,” explains Associate Professor Alexander Josiassen, Department of Marketing, who, jointly with Associate Professor Fumiko Kano Glückstad, Department of Management, Society and Communication, is the principal investigator.
 
Josiassen adds:
“We don’t anticipate seeing results in the short term, but new knowledge generated by the project on this specific group of tourists could have a ripple effect for years to come.”
 
Innovation Fund Denmark has given 4.6 million Danish kroner to the project, which two Technical University of Denmark researchers will also take part in. In four years, knowledge on the decision-making behaviour of Chinese tourists will result in, for instance, a big data platform, tourism products and communication strategies for Visit Carlsberg and Visit North Sealand.
 
The project is called UMAMI, which is short for: Understanding Mindsets across Markets, Internationally.
 
Please contact Alexander Josiassen if you have any questions or Fumiko Kano Glückstad.
 
If you would like to know more, read Innovation Fund Denmark’s press release on the UMAMI project or at the project's website.

CBS Competitiveness Platform hosts on January 23 an event that presents the project. It is in Dalgas Have, room DSV074, from 14:00 p.m. to 15:30. The participating researchers will give a presentation, as well as representatives from Visit Carlsberg and VisitNordsjælland. For practical reasons, please sign up for the event by sending an e-mail to competitiveness@cbs.dk.