Chinese travelers are the world's top tourism spenders. Last year, Chinese tourists spent $215 billion abroad and the number of Chinese holidaymakers bound for Europe increased by 35% year-on-year on the first quarter. The Chinese is the single most important target audience due to the high growth rate in bookings and highest spending amongst all segments, from the China-Australia Tourism Year to Mandarin-speaking wine educators in California's Napa Valley.
Why do the Chinese travel? The new Chinese generation has different expectations of foreign travel in hope of finding authentic foreign products. Traveling is seen as sign of wealth and is essential to maintaining a certain image.
Falling out of Chinese travelers' favor can have a dramatic impact on a country's annual tourism figures.
Here are some ways to snag a piece of this lucrative market:
1. Target families
According to Kevin Guo, head of strategic partnerships and marketing innovation at Ctrip, only "10% of Chinese citizens have a passport to travel abroad". Family trips now account for 46% of all trips made by Chinese tourists.
"This is a very important opportunity for theme parks like Disney, or cultural institutions. The question to ask is: "Is my product suitable for children?" stated by Guo. Make sure what you offer is suitable for multigenerational trips or people of all ages.
2. Maintain your online presence on the internet
Make yourself present at the first pages of Baidu, the first Chinese search engine and currently the most popular way for people in China to search for vacation destinations. It is China's largest search engine and the second largest in the world. Baidu is used by 43% of Chinese outbound travelers.
Baidu Brand Zone acts as a premium advertising product that allows you to include extra information about your brand, including your logo, description, links, images, videos, and social links.
Facebook may be popular in your area, but the leading social platform in China is WeChat - boasting over one billion users. WeChat and Weibo (which has 411 million monthly active users) are both used heavily as sources of inspiration for travel.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are all banned in China. You'll need to build a strategy around the major domestic platforms. It's essential to evaluate the strengths and weakness of each platform by understanding each platform's core demographic and the kind of content that generates a buzz.
3. Greet them with the basics of Mandarin
Just learning a few key phrases in Mandarin and understanding frequent requests can make your Chinese guests feel welcome.
4. Ensure your product fit
Ask your company these questions: Are the activities, services, experiences something that your Chinese target audience is looking for? Does the on-site experience match the expectations? Your product design should fit your offering for the target group.
5. Make them feel at home
Offering rice as an accompaniment to any cuisine will make the experience more personal.
According to Jane Sun, the CEO of Ctrip, "Once the customers are on site, if you offer something special and friendly, that's very helpful. For example, hot tea, slippers, some Chinese speaking staff. It costs you very little but makes the environment very friendly."
We hope your services are a perfect fit for your target market.
