by David Lange, Co-Founder and Managing Director at adlicious
In recent years, China has become the country with the most foreign tourists. 162 million Chinese traveled abroad in 2018 — an increase of 13.5 percent compared to the previous year. Even more impressive is the figure that shows how much money is invested in travel and tourism. In 2017, China was the absolute leader in this evaluation with spending of 258 billion US dollars. Americans spent just 135 billion in the same year. These figures show the potential for the travel industry in this target group. However, the necessary know-how is often lacking in order to address them in a targeted manner. It is easy to derive some preferences that help to adapt offers to expectations and habits in the best possible way. A digital offering is essential for travel and catering providers. Chinese people are extremely open-minded about technological developments and are very smartphone savvy. More than 90 percent of Chinese people post their experiences while traveling on channels such as WeChat, Weibo and QQZone. Not surprising when you consider that 23 percent of foreign tourists are in their twenties. Sharing experiences on social networks is part of everyday life and therefore also part of the travel experience. An important aspect of this is making recommendations. However, just as quickly as positive reviews can be spread on social networks, this also applies to negative experiences. Travel providers should therefore be very careful. A fast and open feedback culture helps mitigate negative reviews. The reviews, whether negative or positive, in turn help restaurateurs and hoteliers understand Chinese guests and preferences and to continuously optimize their offerings based on feedback in the apps. Providers for whom the Chinese market is particularly attractive should therefore consider hiring Chinese-speaking employees who can screen and evaluate reviews in the apps. Another difference to German habits is the payment behavior of Chinese people. Here, too, digital offerings are already widely available and will make China a cashless society in the near future. Current figures show that 850 million Chinese people already use payment apps on their mobile phones. The trend is rising. Apps such as Alipay and WeChatPay are not only used in brick-and-mortar retail, but are also used in markets, in taxis or at fundraising campaigns. German companies should take this habit into account and offer cashless payment options. However, a figure from last year shows that only 10,000 retailers across Europe (2,000 in Germany) accept app payments so far. Even though the German market is opening up to new payment methods such as Apple Pay, the user rate among Germans is still very low so far. The digital payment methods therefore clearly address foreign audiences. First examples show what positive effects the use of WeChatPay and Alipay can have. For example, a payment provider reports that the introduction of new, digital payment methods has led to a fourfold increase in turnover among Chinese tourists for some of its customers. In addition to increasing sales, the payment apps offer another advantage for restaurateurs and hoteliers, among others. The apps also serve as marketing channels. Brands and companies can create profiles in the apps and find out about current promotions, discounts and events. The heavy use of smartphones also creates further marketing potential, which plays an important role not only during the trip, but also when planning a trip. Chinese users should be addressed with eye-catching forms of advertising (e.g. large-scale native ads, moving images). Through intensive use of online services, a lot of data can also be evaluated, which enables a very targeted approach (so-called targeting). With the right digital marketing, a travel-savvy target group can be addressed at an early stage and convinced of the company-specific offer. “The Chinese tourism market is booming and is one of the most important source markets for tourism in Germany,” says David Lange, founder and managing director of the Hamburg-based media agency adlicious and a studied Sinologist. “Local habits must be adapted by hoteliers and restaurateurs in order to provide Chinese people with the best possible travel experience. Digital apps are essential and offer a variety of ways to address companies' offers to the target group before and during the trip.
This post first appeared on ahgz.
