You are here: Home / China outbound tourism update / China Contact Weekly Newsletter, 10th March 2014

China Contact Weekly Newsletter, 10th March 2014

March 10, 2014 By
 
 
ChinaContact
Weekly Newsletter

 

10th March, 2014
Greetings,

 

The ITB Berlin was the place to be to hear about the last trends in the tourism sector. Several insightful workshops and panels focused on China and the Chinese travellers took place, hosted by experts, among them Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt, and bringing together well-known professionals such as Darren Gearing, Vice President and General Manager at Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Luis De Olmo, Executive Vice President Asia-Pacific at Melia Hotels International, Lily Cheng Managing Director at TripAdvisor China, Yeah Siew Hoon Founder of Web in Travel…

 

Whether Chinese tourists are part of the mass market or are rather high-end customers, one of the main conclusions of the debates was that Chinese netizens blogging and sharing on social media, and thus forming what is called the ‘sharing-economy’, are the greatest opportunity but also challenge of the travel industry.
On the one hand not being present on such media will certainly prevent your brand from reaching its potential Chinese customers but on the other hand these customers hold, on the tip of their fingers, the fate of your business and in one “Tweet” can either make you rich or  provoke your downfall …
Last Week’s Headlines 
in the Tourism Sector
Top Stories of the Week :
ITB 2014 discusses traveling Chinese on Hospitality Day
5 stereotypes about Chinese luxury consumers debunked
As part of the ITB Berlin Convention, the largest and most important trade conference in Europe, the ITB Hospitality Day began on March 6 with renowned experts discussing current discourse on the hotel industry.

 

A workshop panel named Quality The Chinese Way brought interesting industry players together to discuss how China’s second wave of tourists challenges hoteliers anew….

Read more
Western media’s misportrayal of luxury Chinese customers has left businesses susceptible to a raft of misconceptions:

1. Chinese consumers don’t understand quality

2. Chinese consumers don’t have individual style 

3. Chinese consumers lack an education on luxury brands

4. Chinese consumers are driven by social status and want big brands

5. Chinese consumers prefer foreign brands  …

Read more
China outbound Tourism:
Chinese pay a high price for foreign hotel rooms : Contrary to popular belief that Chinese travelers are frugal when it comes to hotel stays, Chinese globetrotters were among those who paid the most for hotels when traveling overseas… 
Northstar buys Travel Weekly China, Travel Weekly Asia and Events China: The acquisition of these travel trade titles brings together Northstar’s leading North American brand, TravelWeekly, with Asia-based editions to create an international network…
Travel destinations for China Tourism :

China travel group names Ireland as ‘best destination’: Kenya cannot begin marketing itself to Chinese tourists without seeking to exclusively cater for their welfare. This requires staff being re-trained to enable them to acquire new skills to serve Chinese tourists…

Vanuatu tap into Chinese tourism market: Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) is confident that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Vanuatu will increase…

 Kenya tourism takes aim at Chinese market: The Kenya Tourism Board and 11 companies from Kenya are taking their marketing efforts to Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou immediately after the ITB 2014 has ended…

 Japan back on Chinese tourists’ itineraries: The number of Chinese tourists traveling to Japan may return to the level before September 2012, when territorial disputes erupted between the two neighbors…

Hawaii Tourism Authority’s new strategic plan: Chinese travellers come to Hawaii for leisure, and the pattern will not change unless the industry targets MCI business… 
China Luxury Tourism :

Lagerfeld joins luxury brands’ rush to build hotels with Chinese tourists in sight: Karl Lagerfeld will soon add “hotel” to his list of design conquests now that he has signed a deal to design a 270-room signature hotel in Macau…

Luxury brands slowing China expansion: The shift reflects a government crackdown on lavish gifts, a growing preference among many Chinese to buy their luxury goods abroad, as well as an emerging middle class looking for affordable brands… 

Chinese luxury shoppers flocking online: 70% of 10,200 luxury consumers in over 90 cities aged between 18 and 50 said they use desktop computers every day for luxury purchases [...], while 60 % said they use smartphones every day for this… 
———————————–

If you have China related stories or questions to contribute, send them to us by email [email protected].

Make sure to get in touch if you are attending any of the industry events where I will be speaking or attending, as it is always good to have a face to face introduction or catch up. List of upcoming events is below.
Sincerely, Roy and the ChinaContact Team

 
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn  Find us on Google+ View our videos on YouTube Visit our blog
ILTM 2014 representation
Ahead of ILTM (International Luxury Travel Market) Asia 2014 in Shanghai, ChinaContact is happy to offer all-inclusive packages to help your business make the most of this event and enter China’s luxury tourism market in style.
 
Learn more about our packages here
What is ChinaContact?
Pioneering China market entry specialist for the Luxury Tourism and Retail sectors. 
Working with destinations, operators, brands, hospitality providers, media and events. 
chinacontact.org
About China Edge
China Edge delivers strategy, 
training, social media marketing and consumer engagement in the UK for luxury retail and hospitality.

Visit China Edge
Follow China Edge on Twitter
China Kick-Start Programme
China Edge launched a modular programme that overcomes the difficult challenge of understanding Chinese consumer behaviour, digital marketing, culture and language by providing a complete toolkit with accompanying hands on guidance from start to finish.
 
Read more
Plan-Ahead 
China Focused or Related Events 
 - 2014 China Outbound Travel & Tourism Market, COTTM,
9-11 April. National Agricultural Exhibition Center, Beijing.

- 2014 World Travel Fair, WTF, 9-11 May. Shanghai Exhibition Center (SEC), Shanghai.
 
- 2014 Travel Distribution Summit Asia, TDS Asia,
27-28 May, Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore
 
- 2014 International Luxury Travel Market Asia, ILTM Asia : 2-5 June, Shanghai.
 
- 2014 World Travel Market, WTM: 3-6 November. ExCeL, London.
 
Follow all the China related trade events by
subscribing to our events calendar
Catch Up With Our Archives
Archived Weekly China tourism updates
ChinaContact | +44-20-81239528 | [email protected] |http://chinacontact.org

Copyright © Leyoba Limited 2014. All Rights Reserved.
 
Filed Under: China outbound tourism update, ChinaContact blog, Weekly Newsletter Tagged With: , , , , , ,