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China – Asia’s Largest Source of Outbound Tourism

The Eurail Group is swiftly expanding by inviting the Chinese market to discover the European continent by train. Every year the number of Asians traveling through Europe with a Eurail Pass continues to grow, and the number of Chinese travelers increased by a staggering 25% in 2008. Eurail launched a new marketing campaign starting with two Travel Trade seminars in Beijing and Shanghai.

According to Zhu Shanzhong, from the China National Tourism Administration, “China remains Asia’s largest source of outbound tourism and exceeds the average world level,” Eurail supports this trend by further endorsing Eurail Pass sales in China. For this purpose, representatives and journalists from the Chinese Travel Trade industry will participate in the Eurail marketing seminars in Beijing and Shanghai to further educate and inform the Chinese market about the advantages of traveling through Europe by train.

During 2009, the Eurail Group celebrated its 50th Anniversary and in the five decades since 1959 (when only one type of pass was available), Eurail has become the market leader in European rail passes. From humble beginnings when little more than 5,000 passes were sold to overseas travelers in their first year, the idea of a prepaid pass allowing unlimited mileage across the European continent has become a huge success story. In fact, a staggering 430,000 international Eurail Pass holders trekked across Europe in 2008.

Eurail Group will continue to boost the development and expansion of Eurail Pass sales in the Chinese market during 2010 via a strong distribution network. “China is one of the most important new markets for Eurail and shows huge potential,” said Ana Dias e Seixas, Eurail Group’s marketing director. “We would like to embrace this opportunity to highlight the many advantages of Eurail products to more Chinese customers. In the coming year, we will concentrate on offering additional customer benefits to make the product range more attractive.”