Foreign Trade Off-Season: How Buyers from Europe, America, and the Middle East Celebrate Summer

July and August are the legendary off-season for foreign trade , because European and American buyers basically have to arrange a one-to-two-week vacation trip for themselves during this period.

So, what kind of holidays do buyers from Europe, America and the Middle East get together? Do a tidy up for foreign traders today.

Europe

Vacation is the biggest thing for Europeans in summer. They have a saying called “month of August off” , that is, one month off in August.

Since the vacation culture has a long history in Europe, corporate employees are used to this way of life. As long as employees ask for leave in advance and arrange their work well, there will never be a situation of “no leave”, including their leaders. Going on vacation in summer.

Under normal circumstances, in addition to public holidays, European migrant workers have about 25 days of annual leave each year, so they will choose to take 1-2 weeks of vacation in July and August, and go to resorts such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and even South America to relax deeply. one time.

According to the latest “Global Vacation Barometer 2023” released by the market research company Ipsos, 3 out of 4 Europeans have arranged summer vacations this year, the highest percentage since 2011. Czechs, Italians and Spaniards willingness to take a vacation is even higher.

Only a few Europeans will “roll” for material conditions, on the one hand because the European class has solidified, on the other hand, more young people are pursuing spiritual enjoyment. Working here can create “break pressure”. If you never take annual leave or travel, your colleagues will think you are not interesting enough or even a little strange.

Usually, Europeans’ working and socializing will start with “How was your weekend/holiday?” , and then everyone will chat about their travel experience and vacation life. Most Europeans will not deal with work during vacation, and we foreign traders will not There is a cultural difference to be aware of.

U.S.

American workers are more industrious than European workers. The United States is the only country among all developed countries that regards paid holidays as an additional benefit rather than a basic right of employees . Workers do not have any legal rights to paid annual leave.

To some extent, there are many similarities between the “workaholic” culture in the United States and the “wolf culture” in Chinese companies. Although many Americans leave work on time, they turn on their computers to work overtime after sleeping with their children.

According to an Ipsos report, 63% of Americans plan to take vacations between June and September this summer , 37% of American travelers chose to travel domestically, and 33% chose to travel abroad. 36% of U.S. travelers report working while on vacation.

Most Americans will choose to start their holidays in July, especially the second week of July, which will be combined with the American Independence Day holiday on July 4 to form a long holiday.

middle East

The period of generally lower productivity in the Middle East is during the annual Ramadan period. Ramadan 2023 has passed, and Ramadan 2024 will last from March 11 to April 9, 2024.

During the most important month for all Muslims, they fast after sunrise and before sunset, go to the mosque to pray every day, and gather with relatives and friends to eat “iftar” after sunset.

During Ramadan, Muslims generally work from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. At this time, the work efficiency will be relatively low. Some people will work at night and rest during the day.

Eid al-Fitr after the end of Ramadan is a grand Islamic festival comparable to our Spring Festival and Western Christmas . Many countries will arrange a long holiday of 10 to 12 days for Eid al-Fitr , and even require employers to provide employee allowances so that employees can celebrate the festival with spare time.

After the Eid al-Fitr, Middle Eastern customers came back to work normally.

The so-called “off-season for foreign trade”

TIPS are as follows:

1. If the customer tells you that he is on vacation for a certain period of time, try not to disturb him during his vacation unless it is urgent.

2. For the guests who placed the order before the vacation, it is necessary to pay more attention to finalize all the details, and to get the contact information of the guests during the vacation, in case of emergencies.

3. Don’t be affected by the so-called “off-season of foreign trade” in terms of mentality. Recently, I saw Yibing’s circle of friends and said: “There are no four seasons in life, there are only two seasons. Effort is the peak season, and no effort is the off-season.”

What do you say?