Preparations underway for 2018 China-EU Tourism Year

Language service

The flagship store of Galeries Lafayette is located on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. [Photo/VCG]

With large amounts of Chinese travelers each year, European airports are continuing to strive to enhance local appeal in order to attract more Chinese airlines and travelers. Chinese signage has now become part of the basic infrastructure of a European airport, with many of the organizations also offering websites and mobile phone applications in Chinese.

The Beijing Capital International Airport, one of the largest air hubs in the country, further assisted Finland's Helsinki Airport and Germany's Frankfurt Airport in translating signs into Chinese, and trained staff members on how to deliver services in Chinese to improve the travel experience for tourists.

Italian menswear designer Ermenegildo Zegna also took Chinese customers to heart, with hiring salespeople who could speak the foreign language at its new and largest store on London's Bond Street.

The store, which launched on Nov 9, 2016, hired Chinese-speaking sales staff and also offered personalized services with a Chinese consultant, explaining the brand's history and culture.

Across the street of the famous Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris, also stands the newly opened duty-free store, the Le duty-free des in Galeries Lafayette. The store was specifically designed for travelers, such as the Chinese tourists, with employees speaking seven different languages, including Chinese.