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

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– 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.

The Travel Daily Conference (formerly Travel Distribution Summit China) has been growing quickly from year to year. 

Roy                  

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• Chinese tourists spend over $1,000 a day
• Chinese outbound trips may exceed 115 mln this year
• Space voyage ticket sales take off in China

Travel and Hospitality

• BMWs are Boring: Wealthy Chinese Tourists Travel to Brazilian Slums, Chernobyl
• Exotic locations lure wealthy tourists

• Alipay makes it easier to get back overseas shopping tax
• Chinese are traveling more but shopping less
• 3 Reasons there ‘s “no time to waste” in China ‘s luxury E-commerce market
• Cashing in on China’s big-spending tourists
• Mulberry steps up its digital game in China with new Wechat account

General digital news

 Online Travel 

• What travel brands should know about the changing face of digital China
• Ctrip asserts supremacy with its performance, gears up for deeper penetration
• Price war sees online travel agencies turn to business clients
• Planning to step into China as a meta-search brand? Be ready for the grind
• Priceline to invest $500 million in Ctrip
• Why Tuniu bleeds red ink in China’s red-hot online travel market
• China OTA transactions touch $10 billion, Ctrip still leads in market share
• Expedia dismisses eLong rumors as inaccurate
• Chinese outbound travel service Lailaihui raises $16.3 million

E-commerce and M-commerce

• Marketing in China: Ecommerce not just a way to shop, it’s a lifestyle 
• Can Tencent win the mobile commerce battle with Alibaba?
• Travel e-commerce set for a big leap in China as intermediaries invest aggressively

ILTM Asia is the most professionally organized B2B trade show in China at the moment, with a clear focus on luxury travel. It attractsinternational exhibitors, many of which also exhibit at ILTM in Cannes. The vast majority of the exhibitors are hotels. Chain hotels exhibit in an exclusive hall and independent hotels are mostly represented by marketing companies. 

Tourism boards of several countries were present, namely Britain, Italy, France, Switzerland, USA, New Zealand, Singapore. There was noticeable absence of some destinations that previously attended the show, such as Australia and UAE.

In the experience of our clients that we represented at the event, 80% of the appointments were relevant to their service offering, and a number of the agents requested follow up with specific brands. […]

 Read the full article on our website

The ChinaContact team wishes you a great summer season. Our next newsletter will be published at the beginning of September as we know many of our readers are taking their holidays in August, and we will do the same, though still keeping an eye on news from China. Any breaking news will be posted on our twitter feed. 

Our LinkedIn group (see link on the right) has 1499 members as of July 1st. You can post your questions to our team there or share your stories about working with the Chinese market. 

Happy summer, 

Roy  

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• China Outbound Tourism: More than 100 million border crossings in 12 months
• Tourism: China’s next biggest export
• Union Pay expects global Chinese tourist spending to soar
• Chinese tourists still see shopping as top travel motivator
• Chinese tourists sometimes forget their best manners
• 300 China space tourists book US$100,000 tickets online

Travel and Hospitality

• When wealth is not enough: China’s rich seek luxury experiences to show off their fortunes
• The Chinese luxury Traveller: How destinations are decided and bookings made
• Auckland woos rich Chinese
• Hurun Report : Immigration and the Chinese HNWI 2014
• China’s thrill-seeking wealthy travellers aim for adventure
• Dubai third most popular destination among wealthy Chinese travellers

• Spending by Chinese continues to rise at luxury shopping outlets across Europe
• Beyond Weibo and Wechat: 4 Chinese social platforms with big luxury potential
• Swarovski continues to expand in China
• What it takes to hold a luxury event in China

Online Travel 

• China online travel sales hit $9 billion in Q1, attraction segment hots up
• VIDEO : Qunar reaction to air commission cuts by Air China
• Chinese E-commerce giant JD launches travel channel, targeting at mid and high-end market
• Chinese online travel agents get ten times more reviews than actual review sites
• Skyscanner signals China intent via Youbibi acquisition
• Uber’s mantra for success in China – technology supremacy + local connect
• Rideshare app Yongche to enter US to serve Chinese tourists
• Travel firms urged to embrace smartphones to hold off mainland rival
• Korean travel guide marketplace MyRealTrip plans to embrace Chinese tourists

E-commerce and M-commerce

• Chinese shoppers will be able to receive VAT refunds directly into their Alipay accounts