English: Logo of the People’s Daily 中文: 人民日报题字 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My wife who’s background is retail often tells me that London has some of the finest shops in the World. Also there are some great British brands. So why isn’t London attracting its share of Chinese tourists? This is a must read from China’s leading newspaper, People’s Daily. Check it out!

via 5m traveled abroad in Spring Festival – People’s Daily Online.

As I pondered the issue my mind came up with a variety of possible reasons.

Firstly, UK visas and the arrival process at London’s airports is very off-putting for Chinese spenders. By comparison, when I went to Shanghai in 2012 and was waiting in the passport queue a Chinese official came up to me, welcomed me and struck up a conversation – can you imagine this at Heathrow or Gatwick?

Secondly, leading retailers are not marketing effectively to China’s big spenders.

Thirdly, there are not enough Mandarin speakers to help China’s shoppers. The UK is losing out because government policy does not encourage learning foreign languages.

Fourthly, in his early period in office David Cameron was a little to open with his private opinions about China. Clearly, he’s learned from his errors because Cameron’s article well wishing for the Chinese New Year is one of the People’s Daily most viewed article.

Thoughts?