UK and Europe urged to gear up for high-spending Asian tourists

Europe's infrastructure is falling short of meeting the demands of burgeoning numbers of Asian travellers. With Asian visitors to the UK and Europe reaching 14 million last year, the World Travel Market Global Trends Report 2006 warns that the UK and the rest of Europe are unprepared to meet their specific demands.

Many European national tourist boards are only just starting to cater to the Chinese market, despite the fact that by 2010 it is predicted that number of Chinese outbound tourists will have grown by 190% to 110 million and will generate $94 billion worldwide.

The report also highlights that language is a key component which continues to undermine Europe's tourism product offer. For example, VisitBritain's website is only half-translated for Chinese users and, therefore, falls short of complete functionality, while, in spite of the fact that 2006 is the "Year of China" in London, there has been an evident shortfall of Mandarin speaking guides, as well as translations, at tourist attractions, the report says.www.wtmlondon.com