Date :
25/06/2014
You’ve probably heard about the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and wondered if people from those locations might find their way to Scotland on holiday. At one time considered as ‘developing countries’, the BRICs in the last few years have shown major growth in wealth and populations. They’re now travelling further afield and are much more likely to head for the UK and, potentially, Scotland.
New research on BRIC tourists
Scottish Development International commissioned research into the BRIC countries as a source of potential visitors to Scotland and the results can be found in the Customer Insights section. For anyone considering extending their reach to these markets the statistics, information and advice contained in these reports should prove invaluable.
BRIC growth
China and Indian vie with each other to have the fastest growing population and their economies show strong growth. Both have an increasing middle class who have money to spend and want to see the world. Brazilians are travelling in greater numbers – in the last five years visits from Brazilians to the UK have increased by 146% – while Russia has seen stable economic growth resulting in increased consumer spending, although Russians tend to choose destinations based on visa requirements.
Traveller trends
Europe is popular with Brazilians because of their connection with Portugal but their limited knowledge of the English language means they are unsure about the UK. However, spending a night in a Scottish castle ranked highly with Brazilians in a recent survey, just as it did with Russians, 25% of whom identified a Scottish castle as a dream location.
VisitBritain predicts strong growth in Chinese visitors to the UK through to 2021 while India is seen as having one of the fastest growing outbound tourism markets in the world and the UK ranks fifth for India in terms of spending.
When BRICs travel
Brazilians like to get away during their hottest months so tend to travel from November to February, mostly for leisure and prefer to stay in hotels. In India holiday periods are dictated by school and college calendars so May to July, Christmas, Spring and Autumn are popular for travel as well as October to March when most Indian weddings occur and honeymoons peak. Indian visitors prefer three star accommodation or above.
The bulk of Chinese travel takes place between May and September with travellers preferring spacious modern hotels, while Russians choose June to September and late December to early January and prefer easy access, newly refurbished hotels – shabby chic is not appreciated.
Online and offline travel booking
Of all the BRIC countries, China spends the most on online travel and makes extensive use of the internet for information and opinions on holidays. Brazilians also use the internet for research but tend to book through agencies, although this is changing rapidly to online booking. There is an overall shift in India from offline to online travel purchase but while internet use is growing fast, booking still tends to go through agencies so that visas can be secured at the same time. Russia has the lowest online travel sales of the BRICs and again, while research may be done online, booking is through offline agents.
Social media in the BRIC countries
Facebook and YouTube are banned in China but the Chinese have their own very active online social media communities (Weixin is the most popular site, followed by Qzone, Tencent Weibo, Renren and Sina Weibo). Brazilians love Facebook and are enthusiastic bloggers while Russia ranks sixth in the world for social network users. India, after a slow start, is catching up fast with one in four online minutes spent on social networking sites.
In all the BRIC countries business tourism is a growing trend and it is often the business travellers who are spending the most money.
Discover what makes BRICs tick
There is more insightful information in the Tourism Intelligence Scotland Customer Insights on BRIC markets, ranging from what Russians like to eat for breakfast, or how Brazilians love brands and shopping, to the fact that Indians have different dietary preferences depending on their religion and the vital information that you should never offer Chinese guests a room on the fourth floor or with four in the number – it's unlucky!