Luxury travel to China? Not any time soon – wealthy tourists will want to head elsewhere after Covid-19, say experts

With Chinese borders closed and political tensions rising, luxury travel companies worry inbound tourism to the country will take a long time to recover

Huffman Travel is seeing clients cancel their trips instead of rebooking, and its CEO sees little hope of the country opening up to her US customers before 2022

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A private banquet on the Great Wall, arranged by Hong Kong-based Imperial Tours, is an example of the ultra-luxury experience high-end clients demand. How soon their appetite for travel to China will return is an open question. Photo: courtesy of Imperial Tours

Published: 12:15pm, 19 Aug 2020Updated: 6:22pm, 19 Aug 2020

A group of well-heeled friends were having dinner in Palm Beach, in the US state of Florida. It was the end of January. Some of them, including Shawna Huffman Owen, were about to embark on an invitation-only Wellness Explorer trip to China – but news was spreading about some kind of virus that wasspreading in China.

To be on the safe side, the women decided to reschedule until April.

Now, with China’s borders having been closed since March 28 because of the Covid-19 outbreak and political tensions rising, companies catering for ultra-luxury travellers to China worry that the inbound tourism market will take longer to recover than most.

Huffman Travel, for which Owen is president and chief executive, had many trips to China planned for spring 2020, and almost all of its clients – all American – have decided to cancel instead of rebooking.

Shawna Huffman Owen of Huffman Travel says almost all of her clients have decided to cancel their China trips instead of rebooking. Photo: Shawna Huffman Owen

“People’s lives are different now,” says Owen. “With schools and colleges online and so much uncertainty around border closures and quarantines, it’s very difficult for our clients to commit to a big trip.