As mentioned in the first part of our China blog series, Chinese outbound tourism perspectives are positive and we are to see a growth of visits to destinations worldwide. With this in mind, many tourism providers are encountered with the following question: How can I prepare my tours and activities for Chinese tourists? If you want to get a piece of the Chinese tourism cake, read the following practical tips that can help you create China-friendly products and make your clients (both Chinese newcomers and experienced travelers) feel welcome.

The tips are presented according to the tourism provider’s journey, explaining what should be done in terms of product adaptation before being in contact with the tourists, while welcoming them, during and after the tourism experiences.

Before the first contact

A story behind your product, experience, or destination

Chinese tourists love storytelling. When creating content or a script for your upcoming tour, first include what is well-known about your product in general. And parallel to it, do some background research of what is known in China about your product. Are there any relationships between Chinese poems, collective imaginaries, news, Chinese celebrities, and your product? Did the scenery of your destination appear in a Chinese movie or maybe it was described in a poem, like Cambridge King´s College willow in Xu Zhimo´s poem? These pieces of information, can make a difference and help Chinese tourists to create a closer relationship with your product, as well as to pay more attention to your explanations during the tour.

Design of itineraries

When designing routes/ itineraries, take into consideration that inexperienced travelers would appreciate having a small sample of experiences rather than in-depth activities. For many Chinese traveling for the first time to long-haul destinations, travel means status and prestige, which can be achieved with a “the more, the merrier” approach. However, it is important, to avoid hectic-overambitious itineraries. Moreover, do reserve time for regular bathroom and smoking pauses.

While putting together tours for experienced independent travelers, think “the more extravagant, the better”. Especially young Millennials and white-collar Chinese search for prestige and want to learn from their authentic adventures out of the beaten path. Themed tours like Ski tours (due to the upcoming Winter Olympics 2022 to be held in Beijing), flower tourism, food tourism, and river cruises are picking up momentum.

The feeling of getting the best out of something

Chinese travelers, especially those buying online, are keen on spending more time comparing prices and characteristics of a tourism product. Deal hunting is a national sport and for many Chinese tourists, especially those newcomers, prices can play a more important role than the experiences per se. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you can offer cheaper add-ons, discounts, or free gifts, besides your regular tour price, or opt for a basic product at the most accessible price with several add-ons. Multi-buys (3 for the price of 2) are also a beloved option. Do not forget about seasonal offers and discounts. You can put together campaigns during main festivities like Chinese New Year and National Day (For more on Chinese holidays have a look at Dragon Trail´s article).

Besides pricing, your product can be more attractive when accepting Chinese credit cards or mobile online payments. With Regiondo, you can offer several payment options including the ones mentioned above.

Chinese working style

If you have been to China, you can tell that fast and diligent are two words that describe how everyday life works. This mentality is also expected when buying and receiving tourism services abroad. Therefore, you might want to adopt a Chinese working style. Avoid complicated booking processes and be fast with your responses. Forget about 9-5 pm schedules and be prepared to respond 24-7. Call centers can work just fine.

A warm welcome

The importance of Chinese language information

The language barrier is one of the main concerns of Chinese tourists when selecting a tourism product. To avoid misunderstanding, the safest bet is to have Chinese-speaking staff. If not possible, make the effort to have some Chinese brochures or travel guides. Especially, when dealing with quite historical and abstract explanations, a good Chinese translation (not Google Translate!) can help to accurately communicate your message. Moreover, if your program is conducted in English, you might want to learn some Chinese words just to break the ice (Chinavia offers a signage database and other advice in this regard).

While providing Chinese language materials is good, it does not mean that Chinese travelers do not speak other languages. It’s all about giving a face and acknowledging the importance of Chinese travelers in the international tourism scene.

We support Chinese for your offers on Regiondo. Start your free trial and delight customers from China today.

Basic amenities

When having Chinese tourists arriving at your attractions/ meeting point, offer them hot water. If dealing with small groups, you can serve everyone directly, otherwise place a water dispenser. Many Chinese carry their personal thermos when traveling and would use the opportunity to refill. A step beyond would be to offer a small selection of good Chinese tea (loose not in tea bags). Green, black, flower, or oolong are popular Chinese teas. Another welcoming idea is to taste small treats of local products while waiting for the tour to start.

During the experience

Connectivity and technology

Connectivity is crucial if you want to delight Chinese tourists. Offer free WiFi in attractions, buses, and wherever possible. Also, mention where they can find free internet access at the destination. By doing so, you not only allow them to share their experiences with family and friends but also to become your brand ambassador.

You can also display QR Codes which lead to extra information available on your digital channels, next to products, or on printed materials. Say you talk about a local fact or detail. After the tour, you can invite your customers to learn more on your Chinese website or social media channels by scanning a QR code. And don´t worry – the Chinese embrace the use of QR Codes way better than their Western counterparts.

Recommended reading: The Top Digital Platforms to Reach Chinese Tourists

Creating photo opportunities

Photos, same as for tourists of other nationalities, represent more than words and are the proof of visitation. These days, Chinese visitors aren’t just interested in shopping, but as well they want to get to know more about the culture and the countryside. Therefore, always point out the best spots for photos and plan enough time for photo taking. If dealing with large groups, make sure to promote a group photo together.

Guidance and clarification

Especially for newcomers, the tour guide/leader still plays a crucial role. Chinese want to have a feeling of security and this is achieved by giving clear directions, emphasizing meeting times, and providing around the clock support. It is also important to share information of what to do in case of a medical emergency (which is, for example, one of the main concerns of elderly travelers when traveling abroad).

For both new and experienced travelers, you might want to share tips of what is the typical life of a local in your destination. Be prepared to receive quite personal questions while doing this, for example, about your job, income, marital status, etc.

Eating rituals

When organizing dinner for less experienced Chinese travelers, a buffet-style with samples of local delicacies is always welcome. Give short introductions of the dishes and allow time for photos. Individual travelers are often foodies and many know in advance what they would like to try in a destination or actively ask for recommendations from the staff or their friends back home. A common activity is to take a photo of the menu and ask their contacts for advice before deciding what to eat.

In Chinese culture, eating plays a central role. It goes beyond the physical need but means to share a good time. Try to give to your customers a feeling of enjoyment and learning while eating. It is also recommended to have the name of a good authentic Chinese restaurant at hand, you never know when your Chinese clients have cravings to taste home away from home. This request can be expected from travelers having long stays abroad.

After the experience

Relationships that last

Chinese Outbound tourism is one of the biggest in the world so make sure to foster relationships after the tour or activity. In digital times, you might want to have a QR Code, for example, printed on your business card. This way, one customer journey ends, but it can be the start of many more thanks to online word of mouth.

Conclusion

Now you have China-friendly products ready, but how do you let Chinese tourists know about them and what digital touchpoints are there at your disposal? In the next blog entry, we discuss how to reach Chinese tourists online before visiting a destination.

Dr. Berenice Pendzialek is a writer for Travel Massive. For over 10 years, Berenice has devoted herself to Chinese Tourism and possesses extensive knowledge on the topic of outbound tourism to Europe. She is the former general manager for China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI). Since 2013 she lives in Hamburg and works as a freelance consultant. She also started Hamburg’s Travel Massive chapter in 2015.

The post How to Design the Perfect Experience for Chinese Tourists appeared first on Regiondo.

We are pleased to finalize our China Outbound Tourism article series with this great topic on how to maximize available digital channels in order to reach Chinese tourists in their journeys, from planning to booking.  2018 is the EU – China Tourism Year, therefore, we wanted to cover the topic comprehensively with the help of an expert.

Chinese tourists, especially young-independent travelers, are known for thoroughly planning their trips in advance. Much of this pre-trip homework starts 1-2 months before departure and is happening online. According to Hotels.com, Chinese tourists spend 12 days researching online and visit at least one online price comparison site. Moreover, when booking, millennials are keen to use their mobiles, whereas, older travelers choose traditional booking methods (desktop, phone calls, physical visits). Taking this into consideration, it is necessary to let Chinese tourists know about your brand before reaching a destination. This blog post will introduce you to some of China´s digital platforms, that tourism providers can use to create brand awareness, communicate, and offer customer service.

Please note that before sharing information, do plan a consistent content strategy. Start with a proper Chinese name. It is always advisable to look if former Chinese visitors are discussing your product online, maybe they have already created a name for it, then you can decide if using it or have a new one. Reviews are also a good source of future content messages, Baidu Travel Forum can be a good start for your search.

Official and Travel-related websites

Travel websites and blogs continue to be the most-used resource for Chinese tourists to plan their trips overseas (51% of FGRT respondents used this resource in 2017, followed by 21% usage of social media).

For your own website, simple translations will not be enough to attract a Chinese audience.

To make it China-ready you should:

• Host and register your website in China. Having a .cn address helps you to avoid the slow loading time per page due to China´s Firewall and to comply with China´s government regulations by having an Internet Content Provider (ICP) License. If not having a business license in China, you might need an agency to do this registration for you.
• Have a mobile or responsive version working. As mentioned in the first blog of this series, 80% of Chinese netizens are mobile internet users.
• Link your website to Chinese social media channels.
• Adapt content and marketing messages. Offer tips and recommendations, information on accepted Chinese payment methods, and try to awake emotions with storytelling.
• Increase visibility via SEO. Baidu is by far the most used search engine in China ( 77% market share vs. 10% of Google China ) and offers advertisements similar to Google. However, you should consider registration and verification of your account and an initial payment of 50.000 RMB for a package. Same as with a .cn website, you need an agency to do this paperwork if not having a business license in China.

Other sources of information and booking platforms are online tour operators (OTA) like Ctrip, Qunar, and eLong; travel e-Commerce sites like Tuniu and vertical travel websites like QYER, Mafengwo, and China’s TripAdvisor. The latter relies heavily on user-generated content (UGC) in the form of travel diaries and itineraries. For UGC websites you can start by creating a company profile there, share content and manage reviews. OTAs have attractive advertisement packages (banners, joint campaigns) at your disposal.

However, travel services are not exclusive for travel-related sites. It is increasingly common to find travel products on China´s biggest e-commerce sites like Taobao, for example.

Recommended reading: 5 Key Facts You Need to Know About the China Outbound Tourism Market

Video and live-streaming

Increasingly popular are the video and live streaming platforms. According to Mafengwo´s independent traveler report, 42% of Chinese FITs from the post-90s generation get inspiration to travel from video content.

Youku is a source for long-form, professionally made videos. Whereas, Maiopai and Toutiao Video are platforms for short, mainly semi-professional and self-made videos. Short videos and live streaming (for example on Yizhibo) are commonly used in China to promote events, launch products, and give short pieces of information.

News Reading

A key part of the online routines of Chinese netizens is news reading and it is picking up momentum as a source of inspiration for travel. Apps like Jinri Toutiao use artificial intelligence (AI) to offer a list of headlines of articles, videos, and ads that its users (120 million daily active users by Q2, 2017) may find attractive.

Payment Apps

When accepting mobile payments, for example, Alipay, you can open a store (something like a catalog entry) on Alipay´s App. There you can share basic information about your product, location, as well as to offer campaigns. While browsing the app, Chinese tourists receive location-based recommendations of stores that offer Alipay nearby.

Recommended reading: How to Design the Perfect Experience for Chinese Tourists

Conclusion

During the article, you have already noticed that China´s digital ecosystem is quite different from its western counterpart. To start with, there is an exciting competition between the BAT companies (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent), which speeds up the digitalization of the country with the development of new business models and platforms. It is also to keep in mind, that Chinese apps are not fragmented and usually have many functions in one. Therefore, one cannot just do a simple comparison of a Chinese and a western app. Moreover, the government plays a strong role, and registration and validation of accounts are needed. Considering this, it is strongly recommended to work with an agency that guides you successfully through China’s digital marketing world.

From the impressive numbers that you can see above, this year it is expected that over 154 million Chinese tourists will travel overseas. For a tour and activity provider, capturing this huge opportunity and reaching Chinese tourists should be a top priority. In case you need more questions and want to learn how Regiondo can help you, we are only an email away.

I hope I have passed my enthusiasm towards the Chinese outbound tourism market in this blog series. It will be really exciting to see the development of the market in the following years and help companies to be part of it. 

The post The Top Digital Platforms to Reach Chinese Tourists appeared first on Regiondo.

I’m thrilled to be invited as a writer for the blog series about China ́s outbound tourism.

In this first piece, I would like to present you with key information about the Chinese market, its tourists, as well as future perspectives and challenges. This is a compilation of answers to questions I usually receive from clients during consulting projects.

Beyond giving you a general picture of the market ́s current situation, I hope this information serves as a starting point for your future involvement with the market if you are not yet working directly with Chinese tourists. Or perhaps this may serve as an update for those more experienced.

1. Chinese are traveling everywhere

According to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), 135 million Chinese traveled overseas in 2016, 6% more compared to 2015. While these figures may be impressive, a closer look at this data is needed. Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are still the top destinations of choice among Chinese tourists. But fortunately for long-haul destinations, these traditionally popular destinations in China are losing their share of the market.

Chinese are interested in discovering new destinations around the globe. For first-time long-haul travelers, typical must-see destinations in Europe and the USA are on the top of the list. However, for experienced travelers, there are no boundaries. A recent survey from the China Tourism Academy (CTA) and the online travel agency Ctrip mentioned the countries Chinese would like to visit during Chinese New Year 2018. Besides neighboring countries (Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia), there is a strong demand to visit distant places in Antarctica, Argentina, Brazil, Tahiti, Norway, Tanzania, Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, and Finland.

2. Champions in international tourism expenditure. But no longer only shopping

In 2012, China took Germany ́s place as the number one tourism source market worldwide, and since then the expenditure by Chinese tourists has been parabolic. In 2016, it grew by 12% to US$261 billion, dwarfing the United States in second-place with expenditure rising 8% to US$124 billion.

Over the years, spending habits have shifted from allocating one ́s budget on shopping, to investing in self-recreation. According to the latest Chinese International Travel Monitor 2017 of Hotels.com, Chinese outbound travelers spent around US$315 daily on local expenses. Their daily budget was mostly consumed by dining expenses, sightseeing, and wellness activities. As far as accommodation and transport are concerned, young families traveling with children are likely to spend more on these. However, Chinese millennials are more likely to sacrifice their comfort in the areas of accommodation and transport and prefer to allocate more of their budget for entertainment experiences.

3. Daily Expenses by Chinese travelers

Regardless of whether the Chinese are traveling alone or in a group, quality plays a crucial role.

China’s outbound market represents a constellation of segments and niches overlapping and interacting with each other. To categorize and simplify the market, we can separate them into two groups. There is a mass amount of tourists traveling in organized groups and there are independent travelers.

Mass group travelers represent about 40% of the market. Many of them have limited travel experience and foreign language skills, therefore they prefer the comfort and security of traveling with a group.

The tourism offers for this segment are all about intense sightseeing and low quality. These offers consisted of itineraries which are referred to as ‘’seeing flowers from a galloping horse.’’ This translates to seeing 10 different countries within 9 days. The pace is so fast, it is nearly impossible to truly experience each location to its full potential. However, the mass segment is evolving: groups are smaller, fewer countries are visited and tour routes are packed under a thematic umbrella.

Independent travelers have a greater sense of freedom. Many of them started their tourism career in a tour group and now they completely or partially organize their travels for themselves. Beyond a superficial consumption of a destination, they look for immersion and to experience a place like a local. To increase their social capital, they constantly seek out new activities, in new destinations, and in unexpected times of the year.

As far as demographics are concerned, most travelers are middle-aged (30-49 years) coming from China’s first and second-tier cities. Women make the majority of Chinese outbound travelers with around 56% of the total. Family tourism is quite present in the market and it is not just about families traveling with young children, but also about adult children traveling with their parents or showing them the places where they study abroad.

The market has evolved and tourism is no longer seen as an extraordinary activity, but as one that shapes and improves one’s life. Access to information and travel experience has made the market into a more demanding one where quality is a winning card for businesses wanting to attract Chinese tourists.

Recommended reading: The Top Digital Platforms to Reach Chinese Tourists

4. Extreme tech-savvy. Go online or go home

With 731 million internet users, China is the country with the most citizens online. Nearly 80% of this tech-savvy group consists of mobile internet users. Digital usage is their top choice to plan and manage their experience of a new destination. A typical digital customer journey will have a Chinese tourist gathering inspiration from official Chinese websites and key opinion leaders (KOL).

To book a flight, Taobao offers cheap options, that can be easily paid via Alipay App. For other amenities, day-time activities or to rent travel-related services, tourists can just have a look at service providers’  official accounts or at Alipay Live Accounts

At their destination, according to the research of Hotels.com, Chinese tourists use their digital equipment to keep in touch (74%), take photos/videos (67%), search for travel info (57%), check the weather (49%) and for navigation (45%). Tons of photos are posted on social media. Reviews of their tourism experiences are also posted on the travel website QYER.com.

Unlike China, shopping is not quite as agile in Europe. Only a few retailers have an online pre-order function and even while many accept China UnionPay credit card, Chinese mobile payments Alipay) acceptance is rather low. Fortunately, this is not the case for Regiondo ́s clients. Regiondo users now have Alipay as Dashboard features, allowing them to cater to the growing Chinese market.

5. Positive perspectives with enough room for improvement

In general, there is a positive outlook regarding the development of the Chinese outbound tourism market. This is mainly fueled by travel affordability, easier visa application, and an increase in direct flights from China. According to the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), currently, 27 destinations offer visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, and 39 offer visa on arrival or E-Visa. On direct flights, the institute reported that more than 100 new connections were started in 2017 and for 2018, emphasis will be made in starting connections between China’s second-tier airports and abroad.

Forecasts are quite optimistic. For example, CLSA ‘s report expects that 200 million Chinese will travel overseas by 2020.

Recommended reading: How to Design the Perfect Experience for Chinese Tourists

Conclusion

On the other side, there is still plenty to do in terms of communication and product adaptation to cater to Chinese travelers. On a macro level, initiatives like the 2018 EU – China Tourism Year help to reduce knowledge gaps and promote cultural and commercial exchange.

On a service provider level, being present on social media is also important. How can you create relevant messages that stand out from the crowd and reach these desired customers? As a service provider wanting to provide quality experiences and make Chinese tourists feel welcome in a destination, what should you take into consideration when designing tourism experiences? These two questions will be explored in the upcoming blog entries of this series.

This article was written by Dr.Berenice Pendzialek, a writer for Travel Massive. For over 10 years, Berenice devoted herself to Chinese Tourism and possesses extensive knowledge on the topic of outbound tourism to Europe. She is the former general manager for China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI) and since 2015 she lives in Hamburg and works for Travel Massive.

The post 5 Key Facts You Need to Know About the Chinese Tourism Market appeared first on Regiondo.