ChinaEU calls for more “breezes” for Chinese visitors to Europe 中欧数字协会呼唤更多“微风”涌向中国赴欧游客
In China, digital tools are bringing gentle warm “breezes” to its booming outbound tourism market. With the Lunar New Year approaching, Chinese visitors are off to a good start as several mini programs within WeChat ecosystem have been launched, putting them at ease by providing efficient online services.
在中国，数字工具正为其蓬勃发展的出境游带来温煦“微风”。春节将至，微信里又多了几个小程序，相信有它们“加持”，中国出境游客们将在猪年来个“开门红”！
As WeChat celebrates its eighth anniversary since public debut, two pieces of news as well came and surprised the millions of Chinese who travel abroad each year.
微信八岁了，在微信庆生时，有两条好消息陆续发布，意在惊艳中国每年高达数百万的出境游游客。
On Jan. 15, multinational insurance firm AXA launched the mini program “AXA Go” to offer end-to-end travel insurance services to Chinese visitors. “AXA Go” provides Chinese travelers with exclusive on-demand access to travel insurance, assistance, and other key travel services before, during and after their trips easily within WeChat.
1月15日，跨国保险公司安盛推出小程序“安盛专业旅行保险”（后称“安盛保险”），为中国游客提供端到端的旅行保险和一站式的增值服务，旅行之前、之中及之后都能通过微信享受便捷服务。
Earlier on Jan. 11, the Global Joint Visa Application Center and WeChat inaugurated the mini program “Breeze Visa” ，allowing users to complete and submit their visa application virtually and pay the fees via WeChat Pay.
此前1月11日，联合签证中心和微信合作开通了小程序”微风签证”，用户可在线提交并完成签证申请，通过微信支付付费。
WeChat Global said that artificial intelligence technology will help identify and integrate users’ documents, ideal for those who don’t bother to manually fill forms; the officially direct access to visa center back-end data will ensure a real-time feedback of the entire process after the visa application is submitted via “Breeze Visa”.
据微信，人工智能还将帮助识别用户文档信息整合到系统内，非常适合那些“懒得”填表格的人；“微风签证” 小程序对接联合签证中心，大家可在提交签证申请后随时跟踪办理进展。
These moves, expected to further kindle Chinese affluent middle class’ enthusiasm for traveling abroad, came two weeks ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
这些举措于春节前两周发布，有望进一步激发中国富裕阶层对“出国游”的热情。
“AXA Go” and “Breeze Visa” stand the part of tech giant Tencent’s global campaign “WeChat Go”. WeChat, nearly omnipresent in China, has long grown from a social messaging app to an open platform connecting over 1 billion monthly active users, tons of devices, industries and businesses.
“安盛保险”和“微风签证”“是科技巨头腾讯旗下微信之全球推广活动的一部分。在中国几乎无所不在的微信早就已从一个发送信息的应用成长为一个开放平台，把超过10亿的月活跃用户和数以万计的电子设备，有关行业和企业都连结起来。
As overseas traveling becomes trendy among the emerging Chinese middle class, WeChat Go is keeping pace by building partnerships with telecom operators, tourist attraction operators, hotel groups, airlines, and other organizations around the world, in a bid to provide Chinese consumers with fast and easy access to information and services that can enhance their travel experience.
随出境游在中国兴起，微信紧跟局势，与世界各地的电信运营商，景点运营商，酒店，航空公司和其他组织等建立了合作伙伴关系，为中国消费者提供快速便捷服务，助力增强旅行体验。
In Europe, the campaign has given birth to WeGoEU – joint-venture between Dutch telecom operator KPN and Chinese Internet company Sunway- which holds a combination of providing connectivity to Chinese travelers – WeChat Go sim-card (微信乐游卡), to serving as a full-fledged virtual travel companion for Chinese free independent travelers- WeChat Go Europe Mini program (乐游欧洲Go). Through the mini program, users are enabled to easily navigate among the best tourist spots, explore the best shopping destinations, as well as the most convenient local transportation options and the best local restaurants, booking for services and purchasing products with all convenience within the social media application they are most familiar with.
在欧洲，微信的全球推广活动诞生了“乐游欧洲“——一家荷兰皇家电信与中国互联网公司森威传媒的合资企业。“乐游欧洲“ 为中国游客提供一个大体验包：有“乐游sim卡”， 为自由行旅客充当“全能伴侣”；有“乐游欧洲GO”小程序，用户可轻松浏览最佳旅游景点，探索最佳购物目的地，享受当地最便捷的交通和最好的餐馆，人们可以通过他们最熟悉的微信来预订或购物。
Launched on 28 March 2018, WeChat Go Europe today is active in 14 cities across 6 countries – The Netherlands, Italy, France, UK, Spain and Germany- and has integrated over 3,000 content, half of which is today bookable directly through WeChat Pay online. WeGoEU also offers restaurants and retailers the possibility to integrate WeChat Pay offline in their shops, adding great convenience to Chinese travelers who can opt to pay with the same easiness and security as they are used to in their home market.
“乐游欧洲”是2018年3月28日推出的，目前活跃于欧洲14个城市，来自6大国家： 荷兰，意大利，法国，英国，西班牙和德国。它整合了3000多项内容，其中有一半现可通过微信在线预订。 “乐游欧洲”还促使合作餐馆和零售商提供微信支付，为中国游客提供了极大便利，他们可以选择像在国内一样简单安全地付款。
All these mini applications are linked with one other, creating a truly WeChat-branded ecosystem serving Chinese outbound travelers, an overall population that exceeded 140 million in 2018. Europe is their second favorite destination, but the numbers are today still below 10 million annual visits. Much could be done to promote Chinese tourism in Europe, including very importantly the review and reform of the visa policy.
这些小程序之间相互联系，创建了一个真正的微信品牌生态系统，为中国出境游客提供服务。2018年，中国出境游人数已超1.4亿，欧洲是第二大受欢迎的旅游目的地，但目前赴欧旅游人次仍每年不到一千万，推广中国游客赴欧工作仍任重道远，很重要的，包括审查和改革相关的签证政策。
In recent months, institutions and organizations have been pledging efforts in this direction. A report of the European Travel Commission showed that a full visa liberalization scenario between China and the EU is likely to generate additional inbound spending of €12.5bn per annum and contribute to an increase of Europe’s GDP by 1%.
最近几个月，各大机构和有关组织都在呼吁朝此方向努力。 欧洲旅游委员会报告表明，中欧如若实现签证完全便利化，或可刺激每年125亿欧元的入境消费，拉动欧洲国内生产总值增长1％。
Over 400 million Chinese will travel during the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year which begins on Feb. 5, among them nearly 7 million will travel abroad, according to a report released by Chinese online travel agency Ctrip.
携程报告预计，今年春节将有超过4亿中国人旅游，其中近700万人将出境游。
“We hope more ‘breezes’ will blow, we need more joint efforts and digital innovations to bridge Europe and China in what is one of the fastest growing economic sectors of both regions,” said Claudia Vernotti, Director of ChinaEU.
“我们希望能有更多’微风’吹来，我们需要更多努力和数字创新，来进一步衔接无论在欧洲还是中国都是发展最快的旅游这一经济环节。”中欧数字协会主任韦茉莉表示。
