The British government agency, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), together with the University of Sheffield launched a programme under which foreign students will be recruited to help UK companies better understand overseas markets. (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chinese-students-to-help-uk-businesses)

The GREAT Ambassadors scheme was announced by UK Prime Minister during his visit to China in December 2013. China has been chosen as the target country for the pilot programme that will operate for the academic year of 2014-2015.

The tasks undertaken by the Chinese interns will include:

• helping companies establish online presence on Chinese e-commerce websites and social media

• liaising with Chinese distributors

• provide advice and support on Chinese business culture and etiquette

• helping companies develop a Chinese version of their brand

• support company representatives on market visits to China

• identify ways to cater for growing numbers of Chinese tourists such as menus and signage

The scheme is to be commended for making companies focus on the Chinese market and allowing Chinese students to pick up valuable work experience. At the same time, business owners should take care to understand exactly what kind of help this will bring them and what this scheme cannot do. A Chinese student, as bright and energetic as they may be, does not have the relevant level of experience to replace the need for an expert in market entry, marketing, e-commerce development or cultural gap bridging. China is a very large and complex region. The needs and preferences of Chinese in one area of China would be quite different from those of another. A single Chinese person is not representative of the entire market in the same way that a single French person will not represent all of Europe.

Chinese marketing and business development specialists and agencies that work across all of China, bring perspective, strategic overview and experience of past cases that all benefit the company. Having a Chinese speaker in the office will be immense help for many companies in Britain. But it would be dangerous to think that this alone will be enough to succeed in China. Some of the areas where real expertise is needed are:

• E-commerce is a specialist sector and the regulations around it in China are cumbersome. Companies that do not have a registered entity in China typically cannot setup a payment gateway for RMB or receive a license to sell commercially in China.
• The setup and maintenance of social media requires long-term strategy, knowledge of the Chinese social media landscape as well as thorough knowledge of the company services. As with other markets, leaving this to an intern can be risky.
• Branding and localisation are best done by experts that have a broad overview of the market. An individual Chinese student will have his or her preferences and opinions but not a strategic approach or experience of working with other brands.

Related articles :  

• Chinese students to be recruited to boost business links between China, Britain
• Overseas students to help UK businesses

The luncheon will gather hoteliers and suppliers to the hotel industry to which Roy will introduce the potential presented by the Chinese consumer .

We have prepared these top 8 tips for VisitBritain’s China Welcome Charter portal, and I thought I would share them as they apply to all destinations.

http://www.visitbritain.org/greatchinawelcome/chinaready/

Here are our 8 Top Tips to help you get your business China Ready. Why 8 tips? Because No. 8 is regarded as the luckiest number in Chinese culture. ‘Eight’ is pronounced ‘Ba’ in Chinese which sounds similar to the word ‘Fa’ which means to make a fortune. No. 8 is favoured by businessmen as it represents prosperity, success and high social status. In some areas of China people pay large sums of money for a telephone number with an 8 in it, and homes on the eighth floor of a building would be the most sought after!

1. Learn to see beyond the clichés about Chinese tourists

For example, don’t assume that the Chinese only want to eat Chinese food. Experiencing local cuisine is important to them, so a week’s program should include at least a couple of non-Chinese meals. Also be aware of the growing number of Chinese travelling in small, self-organised groups whose travel patterns are quite different to large groups.

2. Think about long-term engagement and commitment

Chinese prefer to do business with friends – so work to build that friendship and trust above simply pushing business through. Invite them to visit you and host them well. Send them Chinese New Year greetings cards and bring them small gifts when you meet.

3. China is not a single market. Understand the regional and demographic identifiers

You would not have the same sales strategy and marketing campaign for all European countries. China is the same. Taking the time to learn about demographic differences across regions will pay big dividends.

4. Maintain an active presence on China’s internet

If you are not physically in China, your web presence needs to be. Chinese are much more active on social media and spend more time online compared to Western people. Being active means engaging with them there, through a well localized website, local hosting, social media profiles on Weibo/Wechat and video content on Youku.

5. Localisation is important and should be delivered appropriately

Localisation is much more than simply accurate translation. Under no circumstance should you use machine translation for your website. Having no Chinese at all is preferable to using an automated google translate button, no matter how attractive the proposition is. Payment solutions can also be localized, as can social media links and customer service.

6. Emphasise the brand heritage, its history and the human interest story in your marketing

If your destination is known in China for culture, history, art, nature or other accomplishments, bring out these elements whenever you are describing your own product or service, but try to relate them specifically to Chinese culture and influences (Classical China, Confucianism, modern history) wherever you can.

7. Keep up to date on developments – China changes quickly

There are lots of sources of information you can register for which will provide you with regular news and updates on what is happening in the market.

(our monthly and weekly newsletters are a free resource)

8. Show respect for Chinese culture

The dynamics in China now allow Chinese travel agents to expect competitive prices, flexible payment terms and agreement to last minute changes. The pressure from their own clients to satisfy every whim is very high. When you understand their pressures, you can anticipate some of the possible conflict areas and plan for them.

For more advice and insights, visit www.visitbritain.org/greatchinawelcome

He participated in a panel discussion entitled “Where Should You Invest? Compare APAC’s Fastest Growing & Most Popular Marketing Channels” and focused his discussion on the ongoing shift from group travel to independent travel among Chinese tourists and on the best channels to market this new wave of Chinese FIT. See our previous post to access the PowerPoint presentation Roy gave during the event.

A video featuring Roy’s speech is now available :

Learn more about the Chinese market at a special seminar organised by London & Partners in the morning of Tuesday 1 July.

Speakers will include the President of the China Tourism Academy – the Chinese Government’s ‘tourism thinktank’ – who is visiting the UK for just two days, together with experts in training, quality accreditation, marketing and distribution for the Chinese market. Roy Graff, Managing Director of ChinaContact has been invited to give a speech during the seminar.

The event – which is being held at the London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale and sponsored by Geocast TV - will also include an update on the GREAT China Welcome programme.

Attendance is free but places are limited. Confirm your place at events@londonandpartners.com by 25 June.

In our last weekly newsletter, Horst Lommatzsch, former Director Destination Management Asia at the German National Tourism Organisation, reminded us that although Chinese tourists are increasingly fond of indepedent travel, many of them continue to join group tours. And China’s growing middle class will continue fueling this large number of  group tourists that discover outbound travel for the first time.

For our Monthly newsletter, Mr Lommatzsch kindly accepted to tell us more about the case of Germany as, it is true, lately much of the news we get focus on the rivalry between Paris and London for rich Chinese, outshining the other European countries.

Roy Graff: What are the major changes you witnessed in China tourism to Germany between 2008 and now?

Horst Lommatzsch: The number of Chinese tourists visiting Germany has increased.The most visited cities remain the same as before. One of the major changes is that group travels do no longer visit 10 countries in 10 days; however, Chinese tourists’ average stay in Germany is still short, the time for sightseeing is limited and mainly used for shopping.

Another change is that Germany now offers new programmes for individual travel such as self-driving, river cruising and more and we hope that, thanks to such initiatives, individual travel will increase.

We also welcome a large number of delegations coming to Germany  for different reason (official visits, business..).

RG :  Is it easier or harder for new companies / suppliers entering the market now? 

HL: In Germany most of the incoming industry is in the hand of Chinese operators or international ones like Kuoni. For German companies it is then very difficult to enter the market. One of the main reasons are the costs and the prices for the orgnisation of trips. Chinese operator are often much cheaper.

Chinese tourists spend most of their money in shopping and not in sightseeing. A major part of their overnights stays are located outside the cities in industry areas, where you can get cheaper hotel rates. They also expect to spend little on food or transportation. Therefore the interest of new suppliers is limited since they cannot really earn money with “tourism”.

Another thing is that the connections between different areas in Germany take too much time, so the Northern and the Eastern region of Germany are not represented in tour operators packages, or Chinese travellers’ route.  It is very difficult to convince operators to include cities in Eastern germany like Leipzig or Dresden or Rostock etc. in their itineraries.

RG:  What does Germany do to encourage more self organised and higher spending tourists from China to visit?

HL: As mentioned before higher spending tourists are mainly be found in shopping areas. However, Germany is conservative in its way of doing business:  Chinese credit cards are often not accepted or only in “Duty Free Shops” which are actually owned by Chinese. In addition we are still in a system where the tour guides are sending people into the “right” shops. 

As I said, for individual tourists Germany offers self-driving tours and more. But for those individual travel we have visa restrictions. Therefore it is easier to travel in an organised group.

Hotels in Germany are not very familiar with the Chinese market and they are rather concentrating on market where they can get higher revenue.Another thing is that the German press is also not very friendly. Most of the reports about China are not very positive and it has a lot of influence on the thoughts of German people .

RG:  Which city is doing the best for marketing and welcoming Chinese? Why? 

HL: I think Berlin is No. 1, they are well represented in the market, do travel shows in China and have many connections. Next in line is Munich, which benefits from its worlwide reputation of  being a touristic city, but their activities in China are limited. Frankfurt also has good connections with operators in the market. And let’s not forget Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne. The Dom in Cologne is a must to see, Düsseldorf becomes more and more interesting for business relations with China, and Hamburg is Shanghai’s twin city and so a longstanding business partner for China.

All these cities have information, Tour Guides etc. in Chinese language, many Chinese restaurants and some of them a little like restaurants you can find in China. But to be honest – most of these cities can do more. For example: The Romantic Road in Germany or Heidelberg.

The Romantic Road concentrate their marketing for Asia into the Japanese market which is the main asian market for this holiday route. The city of Heidelberg is only represented within the group of Historic Highlights of Germany and will not undertake any own activities in the Chinese market. Freiburg (also member of the Historic Highlights of Germany) on the other side is very active and has its own Chinese representative who lives in the city. 

ChinaContact is very thankful to Mr Lommatzsch for sharing with us these valuable insights.

He participated in a panel discussion entitled “Where Should You Invest? Compare APAC’s Fastest Growing & Most Popular Marketing Channels” and focused his  discussion on the ongoing shift from group travel to independent travel among Chinese tourists and on the best channels to market this new wave of Chinese FIT.

Roy’s presentation at TDS Asia 2014

CNN segment interviews industry experts on the China outbound tourism bonanza and what companies can do to benefit.

Hilton’s Martin Rinck may not know how to pronounce Weibo, but his remark on keeping up with the fast changes in China’s digital marketing landscape are very resonant.

Ctrip’s spokesperson says their hotel listings show which hotels provide ‘Chinese friendly’ services. This is something every OTA that sells in China should embrace and encourage their hotel partners to participate in.

More from CNN here: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/29/world/asia/china-tourism-marketing/

Roy Graff, MD of ChinaContact, attended the event and gave advice on how to successfully enter the fast-growing Chinese market. He shared relevant tips and advice with the audience to help them better understand, welcome and serve Chinese tourists in a nutshell ” be China-ready”.

Click here to see Roy Graff’s presentation at the GREAT China Welcome Summit

In addition, in this short video, some of the 250 speakers and delegates who attended the event give their insights and share their experiences with the Chinese market.

Find out more about the event, the speakers and the presentations that were given on VisitBritain website.

Click HERE to learn more about the GREAT China Welcome Charter.

And HERE to access the online guide developed by ChinaContact.

ChinaContact is VisitBritain official partner in this GREAT project of supporting UK companies in their plans to attract more Chinese customers in the country. Not an easy task, as China is still not well understood by most industries. Contrary to popular belief, it is not an homogeneous market, and there is not a “global” Chinese customer but a multitude of them: depending on their background, education, level of income or just province of origin Chinese people can display huge consuming and travelling differences.

However VisitBritain and Chinacontact’s expertise combined will improve the knowledge UK brands have of the Middle Kingdom and the expectations of its inhabitants. VisitBritain Chartermark will be an easily recognizable label for Chinese visitors and will be the proof that a particular company offers products and services that are suitable and tailored to their needs.

Click HERE to access the online guide

Check out HERE if you are “China-Ready”

Read more about the GREAT China Welcome Chartermark

The GREAT China Welcome Charter and ChinaContact in the news :

Caterer, Licensee & Hotelier News and Travel Industry Digest :  VisitBritain urges industry to be ‘China ready’  2014-03-27

“The Summit, which took place yesterday (26 March), attracted over 250 representatives from Britain’s tourism industry, including hoteliers, destinations, attractions and tour operators, who heard from some of the world’s leading experts about the opportunities of the Chinese outbound tourism market.”

Xinhua News (Eng.) and ChinaDaily Europe: Britain seeks to attract more Chinese tourists  2014-03-27

“Roy Graff, managing director of ChinaContact, suggested that businesses who are interested in the Chinese market should not only rethink offering products which are really suitable for Chinese and train the staff, but also keep “active presence on Chinese social media, such as Sina Weibo and Wechat.” ”

Travel Daily News: ‘How China ready are you?’ asks VisitBritain  2014-03-28

“Developed for VisitBritain by market entry consultants, ChinaContact, the online assessment is part of a suite of market advice, sector-specific tips and information that the tourism body has made available to the industry.”

Jing Daily: It’s not just London seeing big benefits from UK Chinese tourist surge  2014-05-01

“British tourist board VisitBritain created the Great China Welcome charter in March to welcome Chinese tourists. It assists British businesses with a “charter mark” to show Chinese tourists which ones are “China-ready,” cognizant of the high spending power that Chinese tourists wield. As a result, various less-common British locations have seen their visitor numbers grow.”