London retailers keen to lure wealthy tourists from other European capitals have welcomed an £8m government campaign to treble the number of Chinese visitors to the UK over the next three years as part of a post-Olympics tourism “turbo charge”.
Jeremy Hunt, culture secretary, announced the new spending while lamenting that the UK was falling behind France and Germany in attracting Chinese tourists. He urged Britain to get on the “front foot”.
“Nobody should underestimate the opportunity China and its cities represent,” Mr Hunt said. “By 2030, China should have around 1.4bn middle class consumers – creating a potential market four times bigger than America.” France is currently attracting 25 to 50 per cent more Chinese visitors than the UK.