New research from the 2014 TripAdvisor-BCG report highlights methods for capitalising on the growth in the Chinese travel market.
Chinese visitors in Sydney
Image courtesy of ABC News
TripAdvisor, and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a global management consulting firm, have released a new report on the travel and tourism industry titled, Winning the Next Billion Asian Travellers – Starting with China. The report states that by 2030, more than 50 per cent of the growth in global traffic will come from Asia Pacific and 49 per cent of all passenger traffic globally will be within Asia Pacific or between the region and the rest of the world.
TripAdvisor China managing director Lily Cheng said, “Language barriers and cultural differences are two of the biggest obstacles that Chinese travellers face when travelling abroad. Businesses that offer various services and amenities that make Chinese travellers feel more welcome, such as Mandarin-speaking staff, travel guide information in Chinese, photos in menus, and acceptance of international cards like China UnionPay which are dominant amongst Chinese travellers, will stand a greater chance of attracting Chinese guests and winning them over”.
A key finding of the report is that approximately 80 per cent of China’s middle-income and affluent consumers live in smaller cities outside the major cities of Beiing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and Shengzen, meaning that tourism marketers need to target campaigns more broadly to capitalise on the lion’s share of the market.
Chinese travellers also tend to be young, affluent, spontaneous and have shorter planning timelines than their Western counterparts. This is bargain-driven but also because planning for a vacation three to six months in advance is not the cultural norm in China. When it comes to hotels, the biggest decision factors for this segment are location, cleanliness and price.
A recent study conducted by TripAdvisor Chinese sister site daodao.com revealed that Chinese travellers prefer to settle payment on arrival, less experienced travellers prefer to book through a Chinese online travel agency (OTA), more experienced travellers are likely to book through a foreign OTA site or directly with the property. Additionally, free in-room Wi-Fi connection, air-conditioning, Chinese tea, snacks and instant noodles are amongst the most desirable hotel room amenities.
Download the report here.
