China National Day started on 1 October and with it one of the busiest travelling period in China, the first Golden Week after the summer break. Our research indicates that the largest contingency of travellers, group travel from China, while still growing in double digits, is outpaced by the growth of independent or semi-independent sophisticated travellers. Overseas destinations and businesses from the tourism sector should adapt to welcome this lucrative segment of the Chinese outbound travel market.

Strategies that companies employ for exposing hospitality or retail brands to Chinese are many, including working through the travel trade in China or at the destination, advertising outdoors, in print or online, using social media and, somewhat controversially, paying sales commissions.

Whether looking to sell to the independent Chinese visitor, it is important for a brand to directly reach the consumers and influence their booking and purchasing decision in advance, as Chinese are generally meticulous planners and researchers. This does not mean no trade interaction, it means working on both B2B and B2C channels to maximise exposure and stimulate demand.

World Travel Market is starting today in London. On 4 November, Tuesday, there will be a China focused session where I will be one of the speakers. The event is free to register for on the WTM website, but spaces are limited.

On 5 November, Wednesday, I will be running a China Edge special workshop on the independent Chinese traveller, limited to 50 people. The workshop will cover consumer insights, marketing through offline events and social media and a panel with a Chinese social media expert, luxury marketing specialist and a Chinese high net worth traveller.

Normal tickets are £150 for the 2.5 hour workshop including coffee/tea and refreshments. As a newsletter subscriber you can receive a 30% discount with this code : cc141105. There is only a few remaining places.

If you are attending WTM as well, do not hesitate to contact us at  info@chinacontact.co.uk to arrange a meeting.

Hope to see you at WTM or at another event.

Roy

———————————– 

– Marketing Campaigns Focus on Chinese Travellers, ChinaContact Featured,

“Eurostar, a European train service, is currently targeting Chinese tourists through a campaign of Weibo, a rather popular social media website in China that has an average of 150 million users a month.“ The campaign is run by our team, we are currently shooting, in London and Paris, one-minute versions of the films submitted by the ten finalists.

In November, two overall winners – voted for by Eurostar and Weibo users – will receive a trip for two to London or Paris.

View the campaign website

• One out of ten international travelers is a Chinese
• China’s tourism law marks one year anniversary
• Chinese Tourists Spend, Spend, Spend
• Young Chinese backpackers hit the road
• Overseas travel grows during China’s “golden week”
• Peeing panda ad pulled in China after outcry
• China inks 59 pacts on tourism with 18 countries, regions
• Impact of world events on global travel patterns
• ITB Asia rallies the travel industry around sustainability

Travel and Hospitality

• Why Chinese couples are having their wedding photos taken in London
• Interest in luxury travel rising

• www.figarochic.cn the new Chinese website focusing on French lifestyle
• Boston : Chinese tourists are filling suitcases with luxe goods from local retailers
• 90% of travelling Chinese luxury shoppers plan purchases before trip
• Fashion Houses warn of hurt by softer demand in Asia
• Students drive surge in Chinese tourist spending in the UK

 General digital news

 Online Travel 

• Chinese travellers warm up to online guides
• Asian travellers ‘embracing online bookings in a big way’
• Alibaba’s secret weapon in online travel wars: Li Zhongchu
• Korean travel mobile app for Chinese tourists
• Chinese tourism booking site Lvmama gets $49M funding to stay competitive in ongoing price war
• Qunar denies CCTV report of fake flight-delay insurance

E-commerce and M-commerce

• Want access to Chinese shoppers? Alipay clears the way
• +21% growth for e-Commerce in online travel Industry
• China’s UnionPay starts mobile payment service in South Korea

If you are interested in the weekly news update, please go to your profile preferences page by clicking on the link at the bottom of this email and select the weekly update as well as the monthly newsletter.

see also this VIDEO : Golden Week Turns to Gold for U.K. Retailers

figarochic.cn : The French magazine Le Figaro launched a new Chinese website focusing on French lifestyle, fashion, cuisine, culture…

China National Day started on 1 October and with it one of the busiest travelling period in China, the first Golden Week after the summer break. Our research indicates that the largest contingency of travellers, group travel from China, while still growing in double digits, is outpaced by the growth of independent or semi-independent sophisticated travellers. Overseas destinations and businesses from the tourism sector should adapt to welcome this lucrative segment of the Chinese outbound travel market.

Strategies that companies employ for exposing hospitality or retail brands to Chinese are many, including working through the travel trade in China or at the destination, advertising outdoors, in print or online, using social media and, somewhat controversially, paying sales commissions.

Whether looking to sell to the independent Chinese visitor, it is important for a brand to directly reach the consumers and influence their booking and purchasing decision in advance, as Chinese are generally meticulous planners and researchers. This does not mean no trade interaction, it means working on both B2B and B2C channels to maximise exposure and stimulate demand.

World Travel Market will take place week of 3 November in London. On 4 November, Tuesday there will be a China focused session where I will be one of the speakers. The event is free to register for on the WTM website, but spaces are limited.

On 5 November, Wednesday, I will be running a China Edge special workshop on the independent Chinese traveller, limited to 50 people.

The workshop will cover consumer insights, marketing through offline events and social media and a panel with a Chinese social media expert, luxury marketing specialist and a Chinese high net worth traveller.

Normal tickets are £150 for the 2.5 hour workshop including coffee/tea and refreshments. As a newsletter subscriber you can receive a 30% discount.

If you would like to attend please email info@chinaedge.co.uk to save you a place and receive your booking discount code.

Please advise your preference of morning (08:30-11:00) or afternoon (16:00-18:30).

Hope to see you at WTM or at another event.

Roy

———————————– 

– Eurostar launches its first ever Sina Weibo campaign targeting the Chinese market, managed by ChinaContact

Eurostar, the high-speed rail service connecting the UK to mailand Europe, launched its first user generated Sina Weibo campaign targeting the Chinese market. This video-centric campaign  targets Chinese students living in Paris and London and their extended network in China.

View the campaign website

– WTM London 2014

• Changing the way the world travels
• Strong demand for overseas trips during Golden Week
• Chinese tourists are golden harbingers
• Joint effort helps Chinese visitors claim tax refunds
• Five key points on how to make Chinese tourists happy
• China Focus: New body to end holiday scheduling controversy

Travel and Hospitality

• More Chinese splash cash to travel in space
• Adventurous Chinese travellers head off the beaten path on African eco-safaris

• Luxury brands in a quandary as China’s wealthy young develop resistance to bling
• London’s luxury brands woo Chinese tourists 
• Chinese travellers and online shoppers favor US retailers
• Nielsen: 4 must-know facts about Chinese luxury shoppers

 General digital news

 Online Travel 

• CTrip’s parting with Qunar is a ruction worth having
• Chinese outbound travel website Woqu raises $20 million from Tencent
• Around 90% of travel bookings today involves going online compared to 50% in 2006
• Ctrip taps OAG flight data to help passengers
• The 3rd Summit of Global Online Travel Agencies held in Beichuan, Sichuan, China
• Leonardo chosen by Qunar for hotel visual content

E-commerce and M-commerce

• After strong debut, China’s Alibaba worth more than Amazon and eBay combined
• China’s online car rental site Zuzuche raises US$10M to expand their international car rental service 
• Chinese startup races after China’s globetrotting tourists with overseas car rental service 

If you are interested in the weekly news update, please go to your profile preferences page by clicking on the link at the bottom of this email and select the weekly update as well as the monthly newsletter.