http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM - Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM - Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market
Successful Practices and Solutions http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Copyright © 2017, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Cover photo: copyright © Anna Chelnokova | Dreamstime
Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
ISBN printed version: 978-92-844-1898-5 ISBN electronic version: 978-92-844-1899-2
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For all remaining countries as well as for other permissions, requests should be addressed directly to http://publications.unwto.org/en/content/rights-permissions. Table of contents
Acknowledgments 7
Forewords 9 by Taleb Rifai, UNWTO Secretary-General 9 by Huayong Ge, Chairman, China UnionPay 10
Executive summary 11
Introduction 15
Chapter 1 The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 21
1.1 History of the Chinese outbound travel market 21 1.1.1 The trial stage (1983–1996) 21 1.1.2 The second stage (1997–2001) 22 1.1.3 The development stage (2002 to present) 24
1.2 The basic structure of China’s outbound tourism market 26 1.2.1 The evolution of organized outbound travel 26 1.2.2 Changes in outbound travel types 27 1.2.3 Changes in outbound tourism expenditure 28
1.3 Outbound travel destinations 29 1.3.1 Overseas tours 29 1.3.2 Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China 30
1.4 Chinese outbound tourism price index (OPI) 31 1.4.1 China outbound tourism price index of Asian destinations 31 1.4.2 China outbound tourism price index of European destinations 32 1.4.3 China outbound tourism price index of American destinations 33 1.4.4 China outbound tourism price index of Oceania destinations 34 1.4.5 China outbound tourism price index of Middle East and African destinations 34
Chapter 2 Newest trends of the Chinese tourism market 37
2.1 Outbound travel market trends 37 2.1.1 General market development trends 37 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 2.1.2 Tourist product development trends 40 2.1.3 Technological development in tourism sector 41 2.1.4 Factors influencing the China outbound travel market 42
2.2 Characteristics of Chinese outbound tourists 43 2.2.1 Overview of changes and characteristics of Chinese tourists 43 2.2.2 Characteristics of Chinese millennial travellers 44 2.2.3 Characteristics of Chinese free independent travel (FIT) market 45
Chapter 3 Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 49
3.1 Segmentation of Chinese outbound tourist-generating regions 49 3.1.1 Tier 1 tourist-generating regions 50 3.1.2 Tier 2 tourist-generating regions 52 3.1.3 Tier 3 tourist-generating regions 54
3.2 Outbound traffic organized by travel agencies 56 3.2.1 Outbound traffic of tier 1 tourist-generating regions 56 3.2.2 Outbound traffic of tier 2 tourist-generating regions 58 3.2.3 Outbound traffic of tier 3 tourist-generating regions 59
3.3 Features of tourism products in different tourist-generating regions 60 3.3.1 Tier 1 tourist-generating regions 60 3.3.2 Tier 2 tourist-generating regions 62 3.3.3 Tier 3 tourist-generating regions 63
Chapter 4 Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 65
4.1 Australia 65 4.1.1 Policies and planning 66 4.1.2 Product development 67 4.1.3 Marketing 69 4.1.4 Technological developments 72 4.1.5 Key solutions 73
4.2 Indonesia 73 4.2.1 Policies and planning 73 4.2.2 Product development 74 4.2.3 Marketing 75 4.2.4 Travel facilitation 76 4.2.5 Key solutions 77
4.3 Japan 77 4.3.1 Policies and planning 78 4.3.2 Product development 79 4.3.3 Marketing 80 4.3.4 Travel facilitation 82 4.3.5 Technological developments 83
http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 4.3.6 Key solutions 84
4.4 Republic of Korea 84 4.4.1 Policies and planning 85 4.4.2 Product development 86 4.4.3 Marketing 87 4.4.4 Travel facilitation 87 4.4.5 Technological developments 88 4.4.6 Key solutions 89
4.5 Malaysia 89 4.5.1 Policies and planning 90 4.5.2 Product development 91 4.5.3 Marketing 92 4.5.4 Key solutions 94
4.6 Maldives 95 4.6.1 Policies and planning 95 4.6.2 Product development 96 4.6.3 Marketing 97 4.6.4 Travel facilitation 99 4.6.5 Key solutions 99
4.7 Thailand 100 4.7.1 Policies and planning 100 4.7.2 Product development 101 4.7.3 Marketing 102 4.7.4 Travel facilitation 104 4.7.5 Key solutions 104
4.8 France 105 4.8.1 Policies 105 4.8.2 Product development 106 4.8.3 Marketing strategies 107 4.8.4 Travel facilitation 108 4.8.5 Key solutions 109
4.9 Switzerland 109 4.9.1 Policies and planning 110 4.9.2 Product development 111 4.9.3 Marketing 112 4.9.4 Travel facilitation 114 4.9.5 Technological development 115 4.9.6 Key solutions 115
4.10 Los Angeles (United States of America) 116 4.10.1 Product development 116 4.10.2 Marketing 118 4.10.3 Travel facilitation 121 4.10.4 Technological developments 122 4.10.5 Key solutions 122 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Chapter 5 Recommendations and conclusion 123
5.1 Recommendations: market solutions and approaches to attract Chinese tourists 123 5.1.1 Understand Chinese tourism market 124 5.1.2 Prepare destinations and suppliers on receiving Chinese tourists: provide Chinese friendly services 124 5.1.3 China Outbound Tourism Quality Service Certification Program (QSC Program) 125 5.1.4 Market penetration plan 125 5.1.5 Product development strategy 126 5.1.6 Cooperation with Chinese travel trade 126 5.1.7 Marketing and promotion 127
5.2 Conclusion 133
List of acronyms and abbreviations 135
References and bibliography 137 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 7
Acknowledgments
The present study was carried out by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) under the overall supervision and coordination of the Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific in collaboration with the Programme for Statistics, Trends and Policy.
UNWTO extends its deep appreciation to Ms. Xu Fan, Member of UNWTO Panel of Tourism Experts, and to Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting for their valuable support and contribution.
UNWTO also wishes to acknowledge the inputs of Mr. Omar Nawaz, Ms. Harmony Lamm, Ms. Hyeon-Jin Lee and Ms. Thanh Thao Nguyen of the Regional Programme for Asia and the Pacific, and Mr. Michel Julian, Mr. Javier Ruescas and Ms. Julia Baunemann of the Programme for Statistics, Trends and Policy for their research and editorial work. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM - Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 9
Foreword by the UNWTO Secretary-General
China today is the number 1 outbound tourism market in the world, both in terms of trips abroad and expenditure. China has become a key source market not only for many destinations in Asia and the Pacific but also for destinations in other regions of the world which see a steady influx and growing interest from Chinese tourists.
This report provides a global overview on the evolution of the Chinese outbound market and identifies the key trends of this dynamic sector. It includes case studies from seven destinations in Asia and Pacific and three in Europe and the Americas, all of which have successfully developed the Chinese tourism market. These examples, which focus on issues such as product development, market segmentation, demand and supply analysis and, most importantly, marketing and promotion, provide valuable lessons for all destinations aiming to penetrate the Chinese outbound market.
Launched on the occasion of the 22nd Session of the UNWTO General Assembly in Chengdu, China, the report Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions, will surely be of immense relevance for national tourism administrations and destination management organizations throughout the world.
I take this opportunity to express UNWTO’s appreciation to UnionPay International for their valuable support in making this report possible and to Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting for their contribution to this publication
Taleb Rifai Secretary-General, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
Foreword by Chairman, China UnionPay
Globalization, informatization and consumption upgrade in recent years have spurred the fast growth of the travel industry. Both in China and the rest of the world, tourism is playing a greater role and taking a larger share in the economy, and it is bringing profound social impacts.
Innovative payment options and the collaboration between payment service providers and the travel industry are also playing significant roles in stimulating travel spending and facilitating the industry’s upgrade. As one of the world’s largest bank card organizations, UnionPay has maintained a sound partnership with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) since the two inked a Memorandum of Understanding in 2014, and we have been making consistent contributions to the sustainable development of the global travel industry. Today, I’m honored to speak on behalf of UnionPay and introduce the research report on China’s outbound travel.
China’s travel industry has been expanding in recent years, thanks to steady economic growth, economic restructuring and the further opening of the domestic tourism market. Consequently, China has become the world’s biggest source of outbound tourists and at the same time an ever popular travel destination. China’s travel industry will be able to maintain a steady and rapid growth in the foreseeable future. Backed by the ongoing implementation of the “Belt and Road” Initiative and the introduction of a number of favorable policies, China’s travel industry has enormous potential as its citizens are wealthier and willing to spend more on travel, while its tourism infrastructure is continuously upgraded and more tourism resources are being explored.
Payment is involved whenever people make purchases. It is always associated with tourists as they travel and spend. As the preferred choice of payment for China’s outbound visitors, UnionPay has built an extensive network covering more than 160 countries and regions and UnionPay cards have been issued in more than 40 overseas markets. UnionPay will continue to improve card acceptance services, engage actively in growth of the travel industry, and bring more benefits and premium experience to travellers so that they are willing to pay with UnionPay cards as they enjoy better user experience.
This report not only demonstrates the vitality of China’s outbound travel, but also underscores its enormous impact on the global travel industry. Here I’d like to wish a complete success of the 22nd Session of the UNWTO General Assembly, and I hope this report can serve as a useful point of reference for friends and colleagues from the travel industry. Last but not least, I’d like to http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 express my gratitude to Secretary-General Mr. Taleb Rifai and everyone who played a part in the publication of the report.
Huayong GE Chairman, China UnionPay Special Ambassador of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 T 11
Executive summary
Having loosened policies and facing increased demand, China has developed into the leading force in global tourism. Chinese consumers are growing in both wealth and numbers. Destinations throughout the world are looking to China, optimistic about the future growth of the Chinese outbound tourism market and eager to compete to attract Chinese tourists. This report presents examples of the pragmatic and creative approaches that various destinations have taken to penetrate the Chinese tourism market. It also aims to provide valuable aid to emerging destinations in understanding current and future tourism demand. The report analyses the current market situation, the newest trends in the Chinese tourism market, the characteristics of Chinese outbound tourists and the segmentation of Chinese outbound-tourist-generating regions. The main topics and findings of the market study are summarized here.
Chinese outbound tourism: a booming market
The substantial growth of Chinese outbound travel started at the turn of the 21st century as the result of increasingly loosened policies, diversifying consumer demands and profound changes in the market. The outbound tourism market developed rapidly, and the number of outbound tourists maintained double-digit percentage growth each year from 2002 to 2013. The number of Chinese outbound tourists surpassed a record 100 million in 2014.
Emerging trends in Chinese outbound tourism market
New trends have emerged due to the rapid development of Chinese outbound tourism. The consumptive ideals of Chinese citizens changed from meeting everyday needs to improving the quality of life with ever more people considering travel as an important component of that improvement. A growing number of consumers choose outbound travel as their first choice for holiday. Consumer groups of different age levels entering into the fray have led to the enrichment and diversification of outbound travel products. Although sightseeing tours remain the major product, themed and in-depth tours that offer unique personal experiences of local lifestyles are becoming increasingly popular.
The Chinese outbound tourism market is also under transformation from the application and http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 development of new technologies. The conventional distribution channels have been modified with the emergence of online travel agencies and e-commerce platforms. The tourism market has also been reshaped by China’s growing market for mobile Internet, mobile applications and cashless mobile payment.
Characteristics of Chinese outbound tourists
To help destinations better target consumer needs and develop differentiated products, this report analyses the characteristics of Chinese outbound tourists, especially the psychographics of Chinese millennials and the development of the Chinese free independent traveller (FIT) market.
Chinese tourists are becoming more sophisticated, with increasingly diverse and individualized demands. Chinese millennials make up the bulk of Chinese outbound tourism and FIT market. Chinese millennials have demonstrated some unique characteristics: 1. They perceive travel as more for enjoyment and gaining an authentic life experience than as purchasing a product; 2. Chinese millennials love to share. Tourists born in the 1980s enjoy showing off among friends the local food and wine they have tasted, while the 1990s generation mainly enjoys posting selfies through social media; 3. Chinese millennials demand their products and services be “smaller, faster and more flexible”, which translates into more personalized, mobile, convenient and efficient; 4. The millennials love shopping and value the freedom of self-expression inherent in creating their own styles; and 5. Internet is an indispensable part of their outbound travel. They are the forerunners of mobile applications and revolutionary payment methods.
The Chinese FIT market has expanded greatly in the past decade. The Chinese FIT market is extended to increasingly distant destinations. Tourists now are spread across South-East Asia, Africa, North and South America and even the Polar regions. Outbound self-driving tours are also growing rapidly. Independent travellers rely on Wi-Fi to navigate various destinations. Portable Wi-Fi, portable power sources and selfie sticks have made into the top-10 of travellers’ must- pack lists. Travellers in the FIT market have a higher demand for travel convenience. Therefore, destinations that provide simplified visa applications and direct air connections are more attractive.
Segmented tourist source market
The vast Chinese market has a very segmented consumer population based on age, income, education, origin etc. To help better understand the structure and market potential, the report has analysed China’s outbound tourism source market by segmenting it into three specific regions (see figures 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3) (tier 1 tourist-generating regions; tier 2 tourist-generating regions; and tier 3 tourist-generating regions) based on per capita GDP, per capita disposable income of urban residents, and the number of affluent people.
The structure of outbound traffic has shown that the number of outbound tours operated and organized by tour operators in tier 1 tourist-generating regions accounts for nearly 60% of the country’s total. The number of outbound tours organized by travel agencies in the tier 2 and tier 3 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 tourist-generating regions make up 38% and 2% of the country’s total, respectively. T
Given the differing levels of market maturity in outbound tourism, the structure of tourism products offered in different source markets varies as follows: 1. In the tier 1 tourist-generating regions, there are increasing demands for high-end and luxury tour products. In-depth tours of single destinations are becoming popular among experienced tourists and repeat travellers who require a unique experience of local history and culture. More tourists seek customized services and tour itinerary arrangements to meet their individual needs. Themed tourism products with well planned route itineraries and dedicated activities are replacing the traditional sightseeing tour packages to become the mainstream in the tier 1 tourist-generating regions; 2. In the tier 2 tourist-generating regions, conventional sightseeing products still occupy an important position. However, with the rapid development of outbound travel in some provinces, quality tourism products receive more and more attention, and consumers increasingly value greater choice of accommodation, dining, and flight and itinerary arrangement; and 3. The outbound tourism of tier 3 tourist-generating regions is in its infancy, and traditional sightseeing products are still the norm. All-inclusive group products with standard itineraries account for a high proportion of the products in the market.
Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market
Many destinations that prospect the Chinese market attach great importance to their marketing and promotional activities, hoping to gain a larger share of the market. This report includes case studies on ten representative destination countries and cities from Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Americas to showcase the varied marketing solutions and approaches taken to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market. The case studies have revealed some important findings: 1. The opening and fast growth of China’s outbound tourism has benefited many global destinations with increasing Chinese tourist arrivals and tourism revenues; 2. These destinations have developed long-term tourism development plans and adopted Chinese market-friendly policies and strategies which are vital in tapping into the Chinese market; 3. They have, in addition, given great attention to the changes of Chinese tourists’ needs and have adopted segmented market strategies for product development with a wide range of themed products to target the needs of different consumers; 4. In terms of marketing and promotion, these destinations have created a strong online presence in China by developing Chinese websites and establishing an active presence in China’s social media network to engage directly with Chinese consumers; 5. These destinations have fully capitalized on localized marketing channels, as well as the influence of China’s major social media network to carry out flexible, innovative and diverse themed marketing campaigns and promotional activities both online and offline; and 6. Many destinations have also rolled out diverse facilitation services for the Chinese market, which have enhanced the attractiveness and competitiveness of the destinations. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
Recommendations: market solutions and approaches to attract Chinese tourists
The report also provides detailed recommendations on strategic planning and marketing approaches when entering the Chinese outbound tourism market. These recommendations draw on the experiences of destinations, featured as case-studies, that have successfully exploited the Chinese outbound tourism market to their advantage. To increase destination awareness or attract more Chinese tourists, national tourism administrations, destination management organizations and tourism stakeholders should take note of the following strategic approaches such as: 1. Studying and appreciating the tourist characteristics and segmentations of sub-markets as the key to successful exploitation of the vast potential of the main Chinese market. Destinations are encouraged to conduct market research to understand the relevant conditions, structures and dynamics of the Chinese outbound tourism market and to identify and analyse target customer groups; 2. Preparing the destination and local tourism suppliers to welcome an influx of Chinese tourists who have their own travel habits and customs. Before entering the Chinese market, destinations are recommended to evaluate whether their local services and infrastructure is ready and prepared to receive Chinese tourists; “China ready” is not a simple slogan but rather it points out to the capacity of the destination to meet the demand; 3. Developing a phased market entry plan and a regional market penetration plan to explore market potential. For destinations that are less known to Chinese tourists, it would be helpful to develop a phased market entry plan with the primary objective of increasing awareness of the destination amongst the Chinese travel trade and tourists; 4. Creating targeted and differentiated products. This is particularly applicable to destinations that are relatively new to Chinese tourists who should work closely with Chinese travel trade partners to develop tailored packages that feature quality services and accurately identify the correct customer segments especially the high-end and experienced Chinese customers in tier 1 tourist-generating regions; 5. Building close and long-lasting relationships with Chinese tourism stakeholders. Chinese outbound tour operators and travel agencies play an important role in the market and are good intermediaries for any destination that seeks to penetrate the Chinese tourism market or attract more Chinese tourists; 6. Promoting the destinations through different local media channels, taking advantage of new technologies destinations are recommended to establish an online presence in China with a Chinese website and an active presence on China’s social media networks; 7. Establishing a presence in China preferably in the main generating areas through national tourism offices, consulates, airline outlets so as to reinforce the marketing and promotional efforts of the destinations; 8. Adopting policies aimed at travel facilitation such as good airline connectivity, smooth and trouble-free visa issuance; and 9. Assuring that safety and security measures are duly respected. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 15
Introduction
Asia and the Pacific has a population of 4.1 billion inhabitants, over half (56%) of the world’s total. The region has a combined gross domestic product of USD 25.8 trillion (2016), equivalent to one-third of the global economy.1 Following remarkable growth and development in recent decades, Asia has become the world’s largest region in economic terms. Between 2000 and 2015, it recorded the fastest economic growth across world regions, largely driven by China and India, the top and third largest economies in Asia respectively. Other major economies in the region (above USD 1 trillion) are Japan, the Republic of Korea and Australia.
China is the largest economy in Asia and the Pacific and the second largest in the world. With a GDP of USD 11.2 trillion (2016), it accounts for about 44% of Asia’s economic output and 15% of the world’s. China is also the largest country demographically. It has a population of 1.38 billion, equivalent to one-third of the population of Asia and the Pacific.
The country’s economy has seen rapid growth and internationalization in the last few decades, to become the world’s largest manufacturer and exporter of goods. Between 1991 and 2014, China’s GDP grew above 7% every year, and above 9% between 2002 and 2011, sometimes in double digits. More recently, the rate of growth has slowed, though GDP still increased 6.9% in 2015 and 6.7% in 2016. China’s share of the world economy has tripled in the last ten years, from 5% in 2006 to 15% in 2016.
As a result of remarkable economic growth in a country with the largest population in the world, international travel from China has boomed in the last decade, supported by increased air connectivity, market openness and travel facilitation. In 2012 China became the world’s top spender in international tourism and has since led global outbound travel. Tourism expenditure http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
1 Economic and demographic data compiled by UNWTO according to International Monetary Fund (2017), World Economic Outlook, April 2017, IMF (online), available at: www.imf.org/en/Publications/weo (08-08-2017).
from China surged from USD 24 billion in 2006 (3% of the world’s total) to USD 261 billion in 2016, or 21% of the world’s international tourism spending.2
International tourism trends
Over 1,235 million international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) were recorded globally in 2016, some 47 million more than in 2015, or an increase of 3.9%, according to the latest issue of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer3. This marks the seventh consecutive year of sustained growth in international tourism, with arrivals increasing by 4% or more every year after the global economic crisis of 2009. In 2012, arrivals surpassed the 1 billion mark, with 1,045 million arrivals recorded. A comparable sequence of solid uninterrupted growth has not been recorded since the 1960s.
Europe is the most visited region in the world with 615 million arrivals in 2016, equivalent to half of the world’s total, followed by Asia and the Pacific which recorded 309 million arrivals or 25%. The Americas welcomed 200 million international tourists or 16% of the global figure. Africa represents 5% of international arrivals and the Middle East 4%.
In 2016, Asia and the Pacific (+9%) recorded the highest growth in international arrivals across subregions, fuelled by strong demand from both intra- and inter-regional source markets. Africa (+8%) rebounded after two years of weaker results. In the Americas (+4%) the growth momentum continued, while Europe (+2%) recorded rather mixed results, with some destinations reporting double-digit growth and others declines. Demand in the Middle East (-4%) was also uneven, with solid results in some countries contrasting with a decrease in others.
International tourism receipts (earnings at destinations) reached USD 1,220 billion globally in 2016, up USD 24 billion from 2015, or an increase of 2.6% in real terms (using local currencies at constant prices). Growth in tourism receipts has followed the trend in international arrivals, though at a slightly slower pace. While arrivals are 33% higher than in pre-crisis year 2008, international tourism receipts increased 28% in that period.
2 Data as reflected by UNWTO on international tourism receipts and expenditure for China is based on the balance of payments (BOP) travel credit and debit (as with other countries for reasons of consistency and international comparability) reported by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) at www.safe.gov.cn/wps/portal/english/Data/Payments (08-08-2017). Note that, according to the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS 2008), the balance of payments includes both business and personal purposes in the “travel” item. Business travel covers goods and services acquired by persons going abroad for all types of business activities. Personal travel covers goods and services acquired by persons going abroad for purposes other than business, such as vacations, participation in recreational and cultural activities, visits with friends and relations, pilgrimages, and education and health-related purposes. The “travel” item does http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 not include international passenger transport, which is reported in a separate category in the BOP under “transport”. See further the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS 2008) at statistics.unwto.org/content/ methodology-0 (08-08-2017) and the IMF Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) at www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/bop/2007/bopman6.htm (08-08-2017). It is therefore to be noted that there is a variance in the data of UNWTO and those produced by China National Tourism Administration for 2014 and subsequent years that may be reflected in the study.
3 World Tourism Organization, UNWTO World Tourism Barometer (online), available at: www.e-unwto.org. T
By region, Africa (+8%) recorded the fastest growth in receipts in 2016, followed by Asia and the Pacific (+5%), the Americas (+3%), Europe (+1%) and the Middle East (-2%). By subregion, South-East Asia, Oceania and Subsaharan Africa saw the highest increase in earnings last year, all recording 10% growth.
Asia and the Pacific trends
Inbound tourism
Asia and the Pacific is the second most visited region in the world after Europe, and has been one of the fastest growing in recent years. It received 309 million international tourists in 2016, one-fourth of the world’s total. In the past ten years Asia outperformed all world regions in terms of growth, with arrivals increasing an average 6% per year between 2006 and 2016, above the world average of 4%. Most countries in Asia and the Pacific have benefited from tourism development in the last decades, enjoying healthy growth in international arrivals, supported by increased capacity, air connectivity and infrastructure development.
Since 1990, the Asia Pacific region has seen steady and sometimes exceptional growth in international tourist arrivals, with the exception of a downturn in 2003 following the SARS outbreak, and a smaller decrease in 2009 due to the global economic crisis. In 2002 it became the world’s second most visited region, overtaking the Americas. The region’s share of worldwide arrivals has increased steadily from 16% in 2000, to 25% in 2016.
In 2016 Asia and the Pacific recorded a remarkable 9% increase in international arrivals, 25 million more than in 2015, the highest increase across world regions. All four Asian subregions enjoyed strong results, led by Oceania (+10%) and followed closely by South Asia, North-East Asia and South-East Asia, which all recorded a 9% increase in international arrivals.
As of 2016, North-East Asia accounts for half of Asia’s international arrivals (154 million). South- East Asia accounts for 37% (113 million), South Asia for 8% (26 million) and Oceania for 5% of arrivals (16 million).
China is the top destination in Asia and the Pacific and the world’s fourth largest, ranked by international tourist arrivals, reporting 59 million international tourists in 2016, up 4% from 2015. Thailand is the second largest in Asia and ninth globally, with 33 million arrivals, followed by Malaysia and Hong Kong, China, which are the third and fourth largest in Asia and 12th and 13th globally, each recording about 27 million arrivals. Japan is the fifth major destination in Asia and 16th overall, with 24 million arrivals in 2016.
Asia and the Pacific’s success in inbound tourism is also reflected in its rapid growth in international tourism receipts. Asia and the Pacific accounts for 30% of the world’s international receipts, with http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 USD 367 billion earned in 2016. This share has almost doubled since the year 2000, when it was 16%. North-East Asia is the highest tourism-earning subregion in Asia, with USD 169 billion earned in 2016 or almost half (46%) of the region’s tourism receipts. South-East Asia represents 32% of the region’s earnings, Oceania 13% and South Asia 9%.
Outbound tourism
China is the world’s top spender in international tourism since 2012, following ten years of double- digit growth in expenditure. Boosted by rising disposable incomes, improved travel facilitation, the lower cost of air transport and the easing of travel restrictions, outbound tourism has grown exponentially over the last two decades. Chinese international tourism expenditure surged from just USD 13 billion in 2000 to USD 261 billion in 2016. Spending in 2016 alone increased 12% in real terms. China is also the largest generator of trips in Asia and the world, with 135 million outbound trips in 2016 (+6% from 2015),4 though much of this travel corresponds to land crossings for very short periods of stay to Hong Kong, China. (Note that China has revised its international tourism expenditure series downwards retrospectively for 2015 and for 2014, after an upward revision last year, due to adjustments in methodology.)
This increasing demand for international travel is benefiting many destinations in Asia and around the world. International tourism spending from China currently generates some 21% of tourism receipts in destinations worldwide. Like most source markets, the majority of Chinese tourists travel to destinations within their own region, boosting receipts particularly in Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; Taiwan Province of China; the Republic of Korea; Japan; Cambodia; Viet Nam; Thailand; Malaysia; Singapore and Indonesia.
Among other important source markets in Asia and the Pacific are the Republic of Korea (second largest in Asia), which spent USD 27 billion on international tourism in 2016 (+8% from 2015); Australia (third) with USD 25 billion (+6%); and Hong Kong, China, the fourth largest, with USD 24 billion in international tourism expenditure (+5%). Singapore is the fifth largest tourism spender in Asia and the Pacific, with a figure of USD 22 billion in 2016 (+1% from 2015).
Demand for international travel from Asia and the Pacific has surged in recent years, and international tourism expenditure from the region now accounts for over two-thirds of the world total. Rapid economic growth in a region with over half the world’s population, coupled with increased air connectivity, market openness and travel facilitation, are expected to continue fuelling international travel from Asia and the Pacific, especially from large emerging markets such as China.
4 Data as reflected by UNWTO on international trips by Chinese travellers is based on data reported by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, data.stats.gov.cn/english/easyquery.htm?cn=C01 (08-08-2017), as well as included in table 17-9 of the China Statistical Yearbook 2016 at www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2016/indexeh.htm (08-08-2017). Data for 2016 has been taken from section VII of the Statistical Communiqué of the People’s Republic of China on the 2016 National Economic and Social Development at www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/201702/t20170228_1467503.html (08-08-2017).
http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2016, ‘Explanatory Notes on Main Statistical Indicators’, www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ ndsj/2016/html/zbe17.htm (08-08-2017), the number of Chinese residents going abroad (Chinese outbound visitors) refers to the number of Chinese (Mainland) residents going to other countries, Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China for official or private purposes, for sight-seeing, vacation, visiting relatives, medical treatment, shopping, attending conference, or to engage in economic, cultural, sports and religious activities (namely the Chinese outbound visitors). In compiling statistics, each time of leaving is counted as one person-time. It is therefore to be noted that there is a variance in the data of UNWTO and those produced by China National Tourism Administration for 2014 and subsequent years that may be reflected in the study. T
Chinese tourism
China outbound tourism: leading force of international tourism development
Today, China is the world’s largest source market of outbound tourists. Since the early 1990s, tourism in China has greatly expanded with the further development of China’s reform and opening. China has emerged as not only the region’s but also the world’s fastest growing source market. It has been the top spender in international tourism since 2012. Chinese expenditure surged from USD 13 billion in 2000, to USD 55 billion in 2010, to a staggering USD 165 billion in 2014. China accounts for more than half of all tourism expenditures from Asia and the Pacific markets (59%) and generates around 24% of global tourist receipts. This growth consolidates China’s position as the number one source market in the world since 2012, following a trend of double-digit growth in tourism expenditure every year since 2004.5
A market with huge potential and opportunities
China is the most populous country in the world. The potential for Chinese travel abroad is immense considering that just 6% of the population (81.4 million people) has a passport as of 2014. The exponential growth of the Chinese outbound travel market and the huge market potential will generate tremendous business opportunities for international tourism destinations and local tourism suppliers and service providers.
China has adopted a selective and incremental approach to the liberalization of overseas pleasure travel. China introduced and formalized the Approved Destination Status (ADS) programme in 1990s, which allows approved destinations to market group leisure tours in Mainland China and Chinese nationals to travel on group tours to an ADS country.6 Since then, a total of 150 international destinations have entered into bilateral tourism arrangements with the Chinese Government under the scheme. More and more worldwide destinations have increased investment in expanding business in China’s outbound tourism market. The competition among destinations for market share and high-value Chinese customers has become much fiercer.
How to successfully penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market
China is a vast country with uneven economic development among provinces and cities. The outbound travel demand, spending power and consumption preferences of Chinese tourists vary from region to region. New trends have emerged due to the fast development of Chinese outbound tourism. How to successfully penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market or grow market share poses great challenges to destinations. Destinations need to understand the dynamism of the Chinese travel market and be equipped with fundamental knowledge on pragmatic marketing approaches and solutions such as how to advertise destination in China, how to develop tailored http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 products, how to engage with Chinese tourists and how to facilitate travel of Chinese tourists.
5 World Tourism Organization (2004–2015), UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, volumes 2–13, UNWTO, Madrid.
6 Arita, S.; Edmonds, C.; La Croix, S. and Mak, J. (2011), ‘Impact of Approved Destination Status on Chinese travel abroad: an economic analysis’, Tourism Economics, 2011, volume 17 (5), Wayne, pp. 983–985.
Many destinations have successfully expanded business into the Chinese market by developing a Chinese market-focused strategic plan and taking tailored marketing approaches to adapt to the characteristics of the Chinese market. This report analyses the pragmatic and creative approaches that representative destinations in Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the Americas have taken to penetrate and leverage the Chinese tourism market. The analysis and summarization of their successful solutions focus on such key areas as strategic planning, product development, marketing, technological development and travel facilitation. The study on the marketing and product solutions practiced by these destinations is a valuable aid to destinations in understanding and fomenting current and future tourism demand. The study also provides successful examples and useful advice to new destinations when they tap into the Chinese tourism market. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 21
Chapter 1 The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market
Summary This chapter provides an historical review of outbound tourism from China. China outbound tourism development has gone hand in hand with the rapid growth of China’s economy and the opening of policies. Starting with travel to visit relatives in 1983, it has evolved from touring the border area to the current outbound travel market. As the number of destinations keeps increasing, Chinese travellers are seen everywhere around the globe. Profound changes of consumptive ideals and patterns are taking place. China outbound travel is entering into an era of mass tourism that consists largely of individual consumers.
Key words – Visiting relatives tour; and –– Touring the border areas.
Key messages – Number of Approved Destination Status (ADS) countries for Chinese citizens has increased to 150; –– In 2014, the number of outbound tourists reached 104 million; and –– In 2014, Chinese outbound tourists spent a total of USD 165 billion overseas (according to UNWTO).
1.1 History of the Chinese outbound travel market
1.1.1 The trial stage (1983–1996)
During this initial trial stage, it became possible to “visit relatives” and “tour the border areas”, which laid the foundation for outbound tourism.
The scope of permissible travel for the purpose of “visiting relatives” was expanded gradually. In 1983, Chinese residents were allowed to go to Hong Kong, China; and Macao, China, to visit their relatives. This was the beginning of visiting friends and relatives travel (VFR). Thereafter they were allowed to go to Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. At the beginning, they had to join tour groups organized by travel agencies appointed by the Government, but the procedure gradually became more simplified.
Table 1.1 Visiting relatives travel destinations’ opening and timing, 1983–1992 Year Destination
November 1983 Trial: citizens from Guangdong province were allowed to travel to Hong Kong, China; and Macao, China, to visit relatives.
http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 1988 Open: Thailand for Chinese citizens to visit relatives.
October 1990 Open: Singapore and Malaysia for Chinese citizens to visit relatives.
July 1992 Open: the Philippines for Chinese citizens to visit relatives.
Source: www.gov.cn; The official document regarding opening the relative-visiting travel of Hong Kong, China; and Macao, China, for Chinese citizens was issued by the State Council and has never been published. Therefore, the document is only available on the official website of the State Council. 22 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In addition to VFR travel, in November 1987, the Government gave approval to the city of Dandong in Liaoning Province to organize one-day tours to the city of Sinuiju in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This was the beginning of border tourism. By the first half of 1998, with the approval of the Government, the provinces of Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Xinjiang, Yunan and Guangxi, as well as other autonomous regions, had border tours to the Russian Federation, Mongolia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar and Viet Nam. The border tours came in 56 varieties, from one-day tours to eight-day tours.
Table 1.2 Border tour destinations’ opening and timing, 1987–1993 Year Destination
November 1987 Open: border tour between China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
April 1992 Open: border tour between China and Mongolia.
September 1992 Open: border tour between China and the Russian Federation. Open: border tour between China and Viet Nam.
February 1993 Open: border tour between China and Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Open: border tour between China and Myanmar.
Source: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1990–1994, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
According to the official outbound travel statistics from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), the number of outbound tourists grew from 3.74 million in 1993 to 5.06 million in 1996, a 36% increase of market size within four years.1
Table 1.3 Outbound tourism market development, 1993–1996 19931 19942 19953 19964
Outbound passengers (million) 3.74 3.73 4.52 5.06
Annual growth (%) 27.7 -0.2 21.1 12.0
Sources: 1) China National Tourism Administration (1994), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, p. 21, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 21.
2) China National Tourism Administration (1995), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, p. 23, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 23.
3) China National Tourism Administration (1996), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, p. 24, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 24.
4) China National Tourism Administration (1997), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, p. 17, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 17.
1.1.2 The second stage (1997–2001)
In the second stage, outbound tourism was officially opened and the number of outbound http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 destinations increased each year. It was a period of rapid growth for outbound tourism.
On 1 July 1997, the Government promulgated its “Interim Provisions Concerning the Management of Outbound Travel of Chinese Citizens”. Under, visiting relatives tourism received official
1 China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1990–1997, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 23
recognition. Consequently, Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; Thailand; Singapore; Malaysia and the Philippines became outbound destinations. Visiting relatives tours, as a special concept, came to an end with the Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme replacing it.
From 1998–2001, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Malta, Indonesia, Turkey and Nepal became ADS outbound destinations of Chinese tourists. Of the seven countries bordering China which were opened to border tourism in 1998, Vietn Nam and Myanmar became ADS in 2001.
Over the decade since the start of border tourism, many changes took place with border tourism: 1. More and more people who did not live in the border areas made border travels; 2. The border travel routes extended from border cities to the inland; and 3. The average stay of border tourists in foreign countries increased from one day to eight days.
In many ways, the rise of border travel and outbound travel are closely linked.
Table 1.4 Year that countries were added to the Approved Destination Status (ADS), 1983–2001 Year Destination
1983 Hong Kong, China; and Macao, China.
1988 Thailand.
1990 Malaysia and Singapore.
1992 Philippines.
1998 Republic of Korea.
1999 Australia and New Zealand.
2000 Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Japan, Myanmar and Viet Nam.
2001 Indonesia, Malta, Nepal and Turkey.
Note: The years listed above indicated the time when bilateral exchange of notes or official signature took effect. The actual start of ADS travel may be launched at a later date.
Sources: China National Tourism Administration (1999), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 18.
China National Tourism Administration (2000), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, pp. 18 and 19.
By 2001, there were 18 ADS countries. From there, outbound tourism grew very quickly. Outbound passengers rose from 5.32 million in 1997 to 12.13 million in 2001. In other words, the outbound market size expanded by 2.3 times.
http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Table 1.5 Outbound tourism market development, 1997–2001 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Outbound passengers (million) 5.32 8.43 9.23 10.47 12.13
Annual growth (%) 5.2 58.3 9.6 13.4 15.9
Source: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1998–2002, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. 24 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
1.1.3 The development stage (2002 to present)
The defining characteristics of this stage are: a quick increase in the number of outbound destinations, rapid growth of outbound tourism, relaxation of government policies, and diversification of passenger demands. These resulted in profound changes in the outbound market.
The number of ADS outbound destinations has grown quickly since 2002. Seven countries were added that year, and five more were added in 2003. A drastic rise took place in 2004, when 61 countries were added to the ADS list. By the end of 2014, there were 150 international destinations to which Chinese citizens could travel. Today, Chinese travellers are seen in all regions of the world.
Table 1.6 China outbound Approved Destination Status (ADS) open timing, 2002–2014 Year Destination
2002 Egypt, Germany, India, Maldives, the Russian Federation, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
2003 Cuba, Croatia, Hungary, Jordan and Pakistan.
2004 Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Guyana, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saint Lucia, Saipan (United States of America), Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
2005–2007 Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Grenada, Monaco, Namibia, Oman, Syrian Arab Republic, Uganda, and Venezuela.
2008–2009 Cape Verde, Ecuador, French Polynesia, Ghana, Guyana, Israel, Mali, Montenegro, Papua New Guinea, United Arab Emirates and United States of America.
2010 Canada, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, Lebanon, Micronesia, Uzbekistan and Serbia.
2011–2014 Cameroon, Columbia, Madagascar, Rwanda and Samoa.
Note: The years listed above indicated the time when bilateral exchange of notes or official signature took effect. The actual start of ADS travel may be launched at a later date.
Sources: China National Tourism Administration (2004), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 18.
China National Tourism Administration (2005), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 18.
China National Tourism Administration (2006), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 18.
China National Tourism Administration (2009), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing, p. 17.
During this stage, the outbound travel market developed rapidly, and the number of outbound tourists maintained double-digit growth every year from 2002 to 2013, reaching a record http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 107 million in 2014.2
2 China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1994–2015, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 25
Table 1.7 Outbound tourism market development, 2002–2008 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Outbound passengers (million) 16.60 20.22 28.85 31.00 34.52 40.95 45.84
Annual growth (%) 36.8 21.8 42.7 18.8 11.3 18.6 11.9
Source: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 2003–2009, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
Table 1.8 Outbound tourism market development, 2009–2014 2009 2010 2011 2012 201 2014
Outbound passengers (million) 47.66 57.39 70.25 83.18 98.19 107.00
Annual growth (%) 13.2 20.4 22.6 18.4 18.0 9.0
Source: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 2010–2015, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
Looking back at the development of China’s outbound travel market, it took eight years (1993–2000) for the annual number of outbound tourists to reach 10 million, only three more years (2001–2003) to reach 20 million, seven years (2004–2010) to climb to 50 million and four more years (2011–2014) to break 100 million record.
Given these numbers, it is obvious that China’s outbound tourism market presents huge development potential.
Figure1.1 The growth of Chinese outbound tourism, 1993–2014 (million)
120 107 98.19 100 83.18
80 70.25
57.39 60 47.66 45.84 40.95 40 34.52 31.03 28.85 20.22 20 16.6 12.13 8.43 9.23 10.47 3.74 3.73 4.52 5.06 5.32 0 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
Source: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1994–2015, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. 26 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
1.2 The basic structure of China’s outbound tourism market
1.2.1 The evolution of organized outbound travel
When outbound travel was first opened in China, according to the regulations of the time, Chinese outbound tourists had to join a tour group of at least three persons and the tour had to be organized by a travel agency with an outbound business license.
Over two decades, the numbers of both outbound passengers and organized tourists increased, with the percentage of organized tourists fluctuating between 20% and 40%.
Table 1.9 Number of outbound passengers and organized tourists, 1993–2013 Year Outbound passenger Organized tourist
Passengers Annual growth Passengers Annual growth Proportion of total (million) (%) (million) (%) number of outbound passengers (%)
1993 3.74 27.7 0.72 -15.9 19.3
1994 3.73 -0.2 1.09 51.8 29.4
1995 4.52 21.1 1.26 14.7 27.9
1996 5.06 12.0 1.64 30.2 32.4
1997 5.32 5.2 1.43 -12.8 26.9
1998 8.43 58.3 1.81 26.6 21.5
1999 9.23 9.6 2.49 37.8 27.0
2000 10.47 13.4 4.30 72.4 41.1
2001 12.13 15.9 3.69 -60.7 30.5
2002 16.60 36.8 3.72 2.6 22.4
2003 20.22 21.8 3.87 4.0 19.1
2004 28.85 42.7 5.59 44.3 19.4
2005 31.00 18.8 6.79 21.7 21.9
2006 34.52 11.3 8.43 24.0 24.4
2007 40.95 18.6 9.87 17.1 24.1
2008 45.84 11.9 10.91 10.5 23.8
2009 47.66 13.2 12.35 13.2 25.9 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 2010 57.39 20.4 16.64 23.7 29.0
2011 70.25 22.6 20.22 21.5 28.8
2012 83.18 18.4 28.31 40.0 34.0
2013 98.19 18.0 33.56 18.6 34.2
Source: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1994–2014, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 27
In the new millennium, independent, semi-independent, and FIT emerged along with the opening of tourism policies. A growing number of consumers now purchase their airfares, accommodation, or visa from a travel agency. Any purchase through such travel agencies is included in the organized travel data statistics. However, with more and more experienced travellers designing trips online by themselves, statistics on these travellers are not included in the organized travel data statistics.
As consumers from developed coastal cities mature, and as the proportion of organized tours is shrinking, consumers from the developing inland cities are penetrating the outbound market quickly. Most of them go on organized tours, especially those who travel long distances or abroad for the first time. However, international and intercontinental flight options can be limited in these cities, and, as a result, this consumer group tends to purchase travel products from travel agencies in port cities. Therefore, the volume statistics from the international ports (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) also include passengers from the inland regions.
1.2.2 Changes in outbound travel types
In 2014, the number of outbound passengers on organized tours increased by 18.7% to reach 39.12 million, of which 24.76 million visitors travelled to Hong Kong, China (an 18.7% increase); 10.59 million to Macao, China (a 7.2% increase); and 3.79 million to Taiwan Province of China (a 34.5% increase).3
The percentage of overseas travel to destinations other than Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China has been growing steadily, up from less than 30% (27.7%) in 2000 to 63.3% in 2014. Overseas travel is now the principal part of the outbound tourism market.4
Tours to Hong Kong, China; and to Macao, China, have always been a major part of the outbound tourism market. From the visiting relatives tour at the initial stage, to the leisure- and shopping-themed tours later, and currently their use as transit stops for long-distance travel, these two markets are consistently changing. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
3 China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1990–2015, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
4 China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1990–2015, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. 28 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Table 1.10 Outbound tourism market structure and its change, 1993–2014 19931 20002 2005 2010 2014
Passengers on organized tours (million) 0.72 4.30 6.79 16.64 39.15
Hong Kong, China; and Macao, China (%) 41.5 54.0 47.0 27.07
Taiwan Province of China (%) – – – 9.67
Border tour (%) 30.8 5.0 – –
Overseas travel (%) 27.7 46.0 53.0 63.25
Note: 1) In 1993, the organized outbound travel market was largely made up of Hong Kong, China; and Macao, China, tours, border tours and Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand tours.
2) In 2000, the border tour partially overlapped with overseas travel market.
Sources: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1994, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2015, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
From visiting family to leisure travel, from group tours to FIT, travel to Taiwan Province of China has been evolving constantly as well.
1.2.3 Changes in outbound tourism expenditure
Money spent on outbound travel by Chinese citizens has been increasing steadily each year. According to UNWTO, outbound travel consumption from 1995 to 1999 exceeded USD 10 billion5 and reached USD 20 billion6 between 1999 and 2005. It took another 5 years (2005–2010) to climb to USD 50 billion7 and in the following 2 years (2010–2012), the figure soared to USD 100 billion. In 2014, it totaled USD 165 billion. As the figure below shows, travel expense growth continues its upward trajectory. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
5 World Tourism Organization (2001), Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, 1995–1999, 2001 Edition, UNWTO, Madrid.
6 World Tourism Organization (2005), Compendium Tourism Statistics 1999–2003, 2005 Edition, UNWTO, Madrid.
7 World Tourism Organization (2004–2015), UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, volumes 2–13, UNWTO, Madrid. The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 29
Figure 1.2 Chinese outbound tourism expenditure, 1995–2014 (USD billion)
180 164.86 160 128.58 140
120 101.98
100
80 72.59
54.88 60 43.7 40 36.16 29.79 24.32 19.15 21.76 20 13.91 15.4 15.19 10.86 13.11 3.7 0 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Source: China National Tourism Administration, The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, editions 1995–2015, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
1.3 Outbound travel destinations
1.3.1 Overseas tours
Official comparable data of outbound destinations is available beginning with the year 2000. From 2004 to 2011, a large number of destination countries’ statistics were published. But, starting in 2012, only the top-25 countries were reported and, since 2014, CNTA no longer publishes statistics data by country. Although the number of outbound destinations approved by the Chinese Government is large, statistics on the outbound destinations provided by CNTA cover far fewer destinations.
Statistics on outbound destinations for Chinese citizens announced by the CNTA count only the first stop, but in practice most outbound tourists, especially those on organized tours, often visit several destinations in one trip. For example, a typical tour may include Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, or France, Italy and Switzerland. Therefore, it is difficult to generate accurate data on each outbound destination country.
Any given destination’s annual visitation flow from China depends on various factors such as flight changes, visa convenience, exchange rates, destination safety, natural disasters and many more. Take chartered airplanes, for example. The wholesale travel agency in Beijing penetrates http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 tier 2 cities by collaborating with airlines to launch non-stop routes from ten cities in China to one overseas destination. An agency which has a larger visitor volume also may receive special assistance processing visa applications at the destination’s embassy. A single wholesale travel agency can deliver 20,000–30,000 visitors to one destination, greatly impacting the overall annual visitor volume. These chartered airplane routes usually change destinations every year. Therefore, it is a major factor that influences Chinese visitation flow to different destinations. 30 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
1.3.2 Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China
There are three special destinations of China outbound tourism: Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China. In 2013, 68.46 million Chinese visitors travelled to these destinations, accounting for 71.9% of the total outbound tourists that year (98.19 million).8
The busiest three land ports in China are the border crossings connecting Guangdong, Hong Kong, China; and Macao, China. Exit and entry volume at these three crossings take up 70% of the national total. Nearly 52% of the Hong Kong and Macao visitors go through land ports.
Hong Kong, China
In 1983, Chinese citizens started to travel to Hong Kong, China. The purposes of these visits have evolved from visiting relatives with occasional sightseeing, to business travel mixed with leisure travel, to today’s trend of shopping and entertainment. Independent travel was opened in 2003, and the number of independent travellers has been increasing ever since.
A growing number of developing inland cities launched direct flights to Hong Kong, China. Taking advantage of the wealth of choices of international routes and flights, outbound consumers from southern China, especially those from the developing regions, prefer to depart from Hong Kong, China, resulting in a partial Hong Kong visitation number that overlaps with the total outbound tourist number.
Macao, China
Macao, China, opened for individual visitors in the same year as Hong Kong, China. Established in 1994, Macau Airlines continuously launches non-stop routes to Mainland cities. With the opening of individual travel and the expansion of the outbound market, the number of visitors has been increasing steadily, and the destination welcomes a considerable number of first-time visitors, as well as repeat visitors from nearby Guangdong province.
Taiwan Province of China
Organized and individual tours for Mainland citizens opened in 2008 and 2011 respectively. The number of flights between Taiwan Province of China and Mainland China continue to increase and travel time has been shortened to a large degree. The frequent mutual air transportation leads to a stabilizing market. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
8 China National Tourism Administration (2014), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 31
1.4 Chinese outbound tourism price index (OPI)9
To fully understand China’s outbound tourism market beyond its development history, basic market structure and other related aspects, an analysis of the price trends of outbound tourism products is essential. Tourism demand and product prices have a seasonality feature. As a result, the China outbound tourism price index (OPI) is used to reflect price trends of tourism products related to different overseas destinations. This can help better understand the characteristics of and demands for different destinations in peak seasons and low seasons.
The OPI is China’s only monthly monitoring system of outbound tourism products and price changes to global destinations. Based on big data acquisition and analysis, the OPI system has been developed by studying and comparing the Chinese outbound tourism products against different destinations, product types and source markets. The OPI programme is developed and implemented by Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting, a leading tourism consulting firm in the Chinese outbound tourism market. The OPI programme is also supported by the China Association of Travel Services (CATS) and other tourism organizations.
The OPI system was developed with the aim of tracking the monthly consumer price changes on Chinese outbound travel to worldwide destinations. The OPI also reflects changes in the demand of Chinese citizens for outbound travel. The OPI system monitors over 200,000 packaged and FIT tourism products each month, which reflect the overall situation of Chinese outbound tourism market.
The OPI index analyses the prices of tourism products by continent, while taking into account the degree of cultural unity of different regions. Destinations are classified into five geographical locations: Asia, Europe, America, Oceania, and Middle East and Africa. Asian destinations include Japan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries; European destinations cover the United Kingdom, France, Germany, etc.; American destinations encompass the United States of America, Canada and Central and South American countries; Oceania destinations are Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific islands.; Middle Eastern and African destinations include the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, South Africa and other countries in the region.
1.4.1 China outbound tourism price index of Asian destinations
As the neighbouring short-haul destinations, Asia is the largest destination market for Chinese outbound travel. The summer months of July and August are the peak seasons for Chinese outbound travel to Asian destinations, during which the prices of tourist products typically rise significantly. Additionally, there are two week-long national holidays during Spring Festival and 1 October – National Day in China. These two Golden Week holidays in 2016 were also the high seasons for Chinese outbound travel. The prices of tourist products to Asian destinations rose http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 sharply to the highest point of the whole year.
9 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting (2016), China outbound tourism price index (January to December 2016). 32 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Figure 1.3 China outbound tourism price index (OPI) of Asian destinations, 2016
160
142.5 140
114.7 121.3 120 112.7 111.6 103.3 105.2 106.2 102.1 99.6 98.9 97.6 100 92.2 95.2
80
60 Jan. Spring Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. National Oct. Nov. Dec. Festival Day Holiday
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
Among Asian destinations, the Republic of Korea, Japan and some South-East Asian countries are the major destinations for Chinese outbound travel. There are obvious differences in the daily average price level of tourism products to different Asian destinations. The daily average price of tourism products to Japan is significantly higher than those to the Republic of Korea. The average daily price of tourism products to Thailand has been the lowest as compared with other South- East Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.
1.4.2 China outbound tourism price index of European destinations
As shown in figure 1.4, the China Outbound Tourism Price Index of European destinations in 2016 has been fluctuating on a smaller scale compared to the OPI of Asian destinations. European countries are long-haul outbound tourism destinations for Chinese citizens. Multiple destination tour packages to European countries accounted for the major proportion of tourism products to Europe in the market. The average daily price of packaged group tours to European destinations was much higher than that to Asian destinations. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 33
Figure 1.4 China outbound tourism price index (OPI) of European destinations, 2016
160
140
120 110.7 107.9 109.7 109.2 108.5 110.1 102.5 104.0 100 93.5 96.5 95.7 96.6 87.3 88.4
80
60 Jan. Spring Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. National Oct. Nov. Dec. Festival Day Holiday
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
1.4.3 China outbound tourism price index of American destinations
In the Chinese outbound tourism market, the number of tourism products to American destinations has been increasing in recent years, with most of the products aimed at North American countries such as the United States of America and Canada.
Figure 1.5 China outbound tourism price index (OPI) of American destinations, 2016
160
140 135.7 132.8 130.5 133.0 123.3 122.0 122.9 119.0 120 116.7 113.5
99.9 107.7 106.8 100 102.3
80 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
60 Jan. Spring Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. National Oct. Nov. Dec. Festival Day Holiday
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting. 34 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
The OPI for full packaged group tours of destinations in the United States of America has increased noticeably in the summer months of July and August, in addition to the high seasons during the Spring Festival and National Day holidays. There are more tourism products targeting young students and providing tours of overseas schools in the United States of America and Canada during the months of July and August, when Chinese students take summer vacations. The average daily price of tourism products to Canada was higher than that to the United States of America.
1.4.4 China outbound tourism price index of Oceania destinations
The China Outbound tourism Price Index of Oceania destinations peaked during the Golden Week holidays of Chinese Spring Festival. Oceania is located in the southern hemisphere, with peak seasons for Chinese outbound travel during December and January. As shown by the analysis of tourism product prices, the average daily price of packaged group tour products to New Zealand was higher than that to Australia.
Figure 1.6 China outbound tourism price index (OPI) of Oceania destinations, 2016
160 151.0
140 136.1
126.5
120 116.2 122.8 113.1 112.9 110.3 107.4 106.0 108.0 103.2 104.6 100.8 100
80
60 Jan. Spring Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. National Oct. Nov. Dec. Festival Day Holiday
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
1.4.5 China outbound tourism price index of Middle East and African destinations http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 In recent years, the number of Chinese tourists to Middle East and African destinations has been increasing continuously. The tourism products to these destinations have also diversified. As shown by the changes in the monthly OPI in 2016, the OPI of Middle East and African destinations has fluctuated within a relatively small margin except for the substantial increase during the Chinese Spring Festival Holidays. As a result of Chinese tour operators marketing United Arab The dynamism of the Chinese outbound tourism market 35
Emirates as a luxury travel destination, the average daily price of packaged group tours to United Arab Emirates was higher than those to South Africa and Egypt.
Figure 1.7 China outbound tourism price index (OPI) of Middle East and African destinations, 2016
160
140 128.3
117.8 120 110.1 105.5 103.9 103.6 102.2 97.7 100.6 100.5 100 97.4 91.4 92.7 87.9 80
60 Jan. Spring Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. National Oct. Nov. Dec. Festival Day Holiday
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM - Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 37
Chapter 2 Newest trends of the Chinese tourism market
Summary This chapter discusses the development trends of China outbound tourism. These trends include the varying consumer groups, such as the Millenials who grow up with the development of computer technologies. They are the major force that constitutes a new generation of FIT. New technologies have given rise to new operational models of outbound tourism. This includes the emergance of online travel agencies (OTAs). Online marketing is transforming to be more on the mobile phone. Payment methods are changing from cash transactions to e-commerce and to mobile transactions. Conveniences such as easy visa applications, direct flights and Wechat accounts are increasingly influencing traveller’s decisions. Meanwhile, travellers also take local security, stability and friendliness towards Chinese visitors into consideration.
Key words – Millenial market; –– Free independent traveller (FIT); –– Online marketing; –– Cashless shopping; and –– Wechat account.
Key message In 2014, the outbound tourists on organized package tours constituted 39.7% of the total outbound traffic.1
2.1 Outbound travel market trends
2.1.1 General market development trends
Chinese annual outbound travellers accounted for a record 107 million in 20142, with China ranking as the number one source market with its future remaining bright and optimistic.
Over the past three decades, the Chinese economy has gone through a rapid development phase while it continues to grow steadily. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
1 China National Tourism Administration (2015), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
2 China National Tourism Administration (2015), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. 38 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Figure 2.1 The growth of China’s gross domestic product (GDP), 1985–2015 (USD billion)
12,000
9,814 10,000
8,000
5,772 6,000
4,000 2,644
2,000 1,297 845 130 269 0 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China (1986–2016), China Statistical Yearbook, editions 1986–2016, China Statistics Press, Beijing.
As national income and disposable household income keep growing, consumption increases simultaneously.
Table 2.1 Household income and outbound passengers
Year Per capita disposable income of urban family Outbound tourist
Amount Annual growth Passenger number Annual growth (USD) (%) (million) (%)
1993 374 28.18 3.74 27.7
1997 745 6.64 5.32 5.2
2002 1,117 12.30 16.60 36.8
2010 2,771 11.26 57.39 20.4
2015 4,524 6.17 117.00 9.0
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistics Book, editions 1994–2016, China Statistics Press, Beijing.
Due to an increased national disposable income, consumer demand and expectations changed from meeting everyday needs to improving life quality with more people focusing on happiness, http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 health, family relationship, environmental protection and relaxation. Travel has been regarded as an important channel to upgrade quality of life and a growing number of consumers choose travel for not only pleasure but also as a life experience that is enriching. Outbound travel has thus become their first choice for holiday. The urban middle class family go on holidays overseas every year, some even travel twice or more frequently. Newest trends of the Chinese tourism market 39
During the initial stage, the majority of outbound tourists came from the economically developed Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and the capital Beijing. Recent years have seen a more balanced economic development with the inland areas catching up quickly in terms of economic growth and more inland dwellers entering the outbound tourism market. Based on long-term observations of the market dynamics, the outbound visitor number on organized tours was obtained from the tourism administrations of the five provinces/municipalities. The organized tourist distribution was calculated and results suggest that the market coverage expanded beyond the major markets. In 2004, 70% of the organized tours came from the two municipalities (Beijing and Shanghai) and three provinces (Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu) but in 2013, the number shrank to 50%, indicating that the other 26 provinces (autonomous regions/ municipalities) are generating more customers. This trend is poised to continue.
The fast-growing consumer groups in China are: –– The “Grey Gapper”: the Grey Gapper can be defined as the baby-boom generation born in the 1950s. The population of this group has significantly increased as travellers. This new “grey generation” are retirees with the time to enjoy their lives. Typically, they prefer to travel in groups, sometimes even by themselves, displaying an independence quite different from the past. This type of traveller prefers long distance travel over short-haul travel; –– The millennials: millenials are those currently 15–35 years of age and can be generalized as eager travellers. They are born in the same era as of the computer technology and grew up with the development of the Internet. This generation is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. In the meanwhile, disagreeing with the traditional belief that one should work hard while young and relax after retirement, they choose “work hard, play hard”. The latest research suggests that this consumer group starts to make outbound trips even when they are still in university or newly employed; and –– Primary and secondary school students: the parents of this younger group (under the age of 18) of travellers send their children overseas to motivate and broaden their horizons as a life experience. A growing number of families take their children on international trips and thereby constitute an interesting market segment. According to the 2016 online booking data from Tuniu, the “Grey Gapper”, the millennial generation and the consumer group under 18 have increased by 88%, 92% and 110% respectively.3
Other segments include wealthy farmers who are quickly entering the outbound market. The rural economic restructuring that has taken place in China recently has led to an increase in the income of farmers. Rural tourism not only stimulates the rural economy but also helps more and more wealthy farmers to travel abroad. Additionally, throughout China there are longer and more flexible holidays. Beside the leisured, the “Grey Gapper” and those who work from home, “off-peak travel” is gradually accepted by more consumer groups. Nowadays, the holiday system is more flexible than before thanks to the paid vacation policy. A growing number of employees take advantage of the annual leave or over-time to travel with family or friends. This trend is closing the gap of seasonality of outbound travel to a certain degree. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
3 Tuniu (n.d.), ‘Chinese OTA user behavior analysis’ (online), available at: www.cntour2.com (11-01-2017). Note: Established in 2006, tuniu.com is an influential online tourism agency in China and publishes analysis reports regularly based on their big data. 40 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
2.1.2 Tourist product development trends
Sightseeing tours are in greater demand. The overall market changes follow the tendency of a shortened product life cycle and an increased product renewal frequency. The reduced number of stops during one trip and prolonged stay in one destination characterize changes in itinerary design. Full package tours are giving way to more semi-independent tours. The conventional products are being replaced by personalized services. The budget tours are no longer as popular as in the past with high quality tours taking up a bigger market share.
The proportion of leisure holiday keeps enlarging. The rise of island tours marks a prominent change in outbound travel. If sightseeing is considered the main purpose of visiting South-East Asia islands during the initial stage, Maldives, Hawaii, Tahiti and Mauritius are regarded more as a pure relaxing holiday. Products from Club Med are making a reputation and gaining recognition among more and more consumers. Meanwhile, a growing number of newlyweds choose island tours for their honeymoon. Based on booking data from Ctrip4, the island tour visitors accounted for 30% of the total outbound tourists in 2016.5
The cruise tour market is just unfolding. In 2016, the number of outbound tourists by cruise ship reached 2.12 million, increasing 91% over the previous year. From 2005 to 2015, the average annual increase of passenger number exceeded 40%.6 Products from China homeports consist of mainly short routes that last for 4–7 days. Cruise ships from Shanghai and Tianjin homeports usually serve Japan and the Republic of Korea while ships departing from Hong Kong, China, stop over at Viet Nam and Taiwan Province of China. China homeports passenger liners have cultivated a substantial mass market (per capita expenditure: USD 700–750), as well as an appreciative niche market. The latter being dissatisfied with China homeport products reach out to the “Fly + Cruise” market by flying into a Mediterranean or Caribbean port, then boarding an international cruise ship across continents (per capita expenditure: USD 6,000–9,000) or join a discovery liner to the polar regions (per capita expenditure: from USD 15,000).
The MICE market is growing steadily. MICE group size ranges from hundreds to thousands of visitors who, in general, prefer intra-continental destinations. Large incentive groups of over 1,000 usually opt for the chartered cruise products while small groups of company executives prefer long distance travel like watching the great animal migrations in Africa. Choice of destination from MICE groups depends, to a certain degree, on international flight options. Groups over 100 also take the exit and entry ports into consideration because participants may come from different provinces. As the Chinese economy is developing rapidly, strengthened international trade and communication lead to a rising demand for participation in various international conferences. There are an increasing number of business delegation tours that require specialized itinerary programmes. For example, investment investigation groups value an intimate communication environment while IT industry study tours focus on cloud computing. The designer groups expect to experience as much cutting-edge ideas as possible, but it was further divided into landscape, interior, urban and other types of design, calling for unique itineraries to meet their needs. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
4 As one of the strongest travel websites in China and the first in the trade to develop FIT products for the millenial, Ctrip publishes market reports regularly based on their big data.
5 Ctrip and China Tourism Academy, Big Data on China outbound tourism 2016 (online), available at: www.ctaweb.org (21-08-2017).
6 China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association (n.d.), Statistics Express (online), available at: www.ccyia.com (14-05-2017). Newest trends of the Chinese tourism market 41
Study abroad programmes are becoming more popular. Destination choice for study abroad programme depends on various factors like education quality, expenditure, exchange rate and travel convenience. Increasingly a number of consumers select the United Kingdom as their destination to study and also for the facility to travel across the European continent. There have also been a growing number of summer study programmes, parent-kid travel and outbound trips for visiting and taking care of children who study abroad. Participating in graduation ceremonies of children studying abroad is another related sector. The experiential study programme that integrates travel with cultural exchange has drawn extensive attention lately. For instance, “Measuring the heart with footsteps – trip to Nepal” organized by China Travel Service Shanghai (www.ctish.cn) is a typical product that targets the rich second generation from a high-end market. Activities of the programme include hiking around the Himalayan Mountains, visiting local schools and students, so that they can gain an unforgettable life experience from the Himalaya trip.
2.1.3 Technological development in tourism sector
One of the major changes brought by new technology is that conventional channels are being challenged and transformed gradually. Traditional well-established wholesale and retail travel agencies face strong competition from online travel agencies (OTAs) who operate both online and offline. Conventional travel agents provide package tours and one-stop service while OTA products are sold individually, as well as separately in standardized models. Competition between online and offline agencies is intense as the conventional travel agency gradually starts creating websites, applications, booking hotlines and accepting more individual travellers by providing more semi-independent tours (air ticket + hotel + optional one-day tour or theme activity). The OTAs, on the other hand, focus on broadening their sales channels to the travel groups and offline markets. Offline products are competitive in terms of the face-to-face service and flexibility, which draws on a group of older customers of relatively higher loyalty. The market demonstrates obvious local advantages. On the contrary, a younger customer group prefers online products for the convenience of comparing price and standardized single item service. The market boundary is vague.
Another industrial change brought by the new technology is that online platform is switching to the mobile end from the computer end. Travel websites in China are numerous. In 2014, the largest flight search engine www.skyscanner.com7 arrived in China to establish its local site www.tianxun.com8, as well as www.youzhan.com9 created by www.trivago.com10. With smart phone and portable devices like iPad spreading widely, the speed of e-commerce tilting towards the mobile end outpaced the Internet popularization speed. Various applications allow for greater convenience in life, ranging from financing, money transfers, city service to bill payment, ticket booking and travel inquires. More ADS have realized that destination marketing in China relies on localized social media platforms instead of Facebook or Instagram. Therefore, an increasing number of ADS have started to create their own China website. Take Airbnb for example, it was initially translated into “空中食宿” (Air Bed and Breakfast) and has been changed into “爱彼迎” http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 (Love connects and welcomes each other) in order to appeal to more people.
7 www.skyscanner.com, the largest flight search engine in the world.
8 www.tianxun.com, the local site of www.skyscanner.com in China.
9 www.youzhan.com, the local site of www.trivago.com in China.
10 www.trivago.com, the largest hotel search and bookingengine in the world. 42 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Thirdly, due to technical advancement, electronic payment is being replaced by the mobile payment channels, which has infiltrated every aspect of daily life, like taking a cab, buying breakfast, grocery shopping at the farmer’s market, going to a restaurant and shopping in the mall. China is marching in large strides into a cashless new era. According to China Banking Association, in 2016, banks and other financial institutes carried out USD 177.71 billion worth of off-counter transactions (an increase of 63.68% from the previous year) with the total transaction amount climbing to USD 221.4 trillion. In total, 85 billion transactions were made through online banking (a 98.1% growth) with the transaction amount reaching USD 20.4 trillion (a 98.8% growth). Besides, there were 328 million deals closed on e-commerce platform, generating USD 0.39 trillion of turnover. Wechat banking completed 218 million transactions that equal to a total amount of USD 1.45 trillion, increasing over 30 times from the previous year. The growth has been stunning (annual growth of 2015 is 195.67%).11
2.1.4 Factors influencing the China outbound travel market
There are various socio-economic factors that influence outbound tourism such as economy, social environment, eco-environment, transportation, climate change, epidemics, natural disaster, state relations and many more, all playing an important role in directing the passenger flow. While today in China, the demand for outbound travel is high, international direct flights and visa conveniences are the two most notable factors that have direct impact on tourist decisions.
International direct flight is a major catalyst for market growth. The number of travellers from Shanghai to Mauritius reached around 1,000 between 2008 and 2010 and increased to 4,000 in 2012 when Air Mauritius launched the Shanghai–Kuala Lumpur–Port Louis route. With the opening of a non-stop flight in 2013, the passenger population broke the record of 10,000 mark. There are many relatively less developed cities (compared with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) that are now connected by international flights. In 2015, 67% of the new air routes between China and Thailand, as well as 50% of the Sino–Japan new routes totalling 932 flights departed from the inland cities. Air France, KLM and Lufthansa have launched direct routes from Hangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Shenyang, Qingdao and Chongqing. Low cost airlines (like AirAsia and Jetstar) tend to select the tier 2 cities (like Hangzhou, Kunming and Wuhan) as their routes. During the two golden weeks and the peak season, travel agencies of the provincial capital joined hands to introduce consolidated charter flights. These capital cities also jointly promote in the markets of nearby regions within two hours’ travel by high-speed train. The chartered air products from the regional tourism market usually select intra-continental destinations but wholesalers in Beijing often focus on the tier 2 European cities.
More and more international flights have also improved the cost efficiency of international transportation. Exchange rate fluctuation has an influence on the outbound tourism market but to a lesser degree. Although the CNY rate in 2016 descended slightly, the net growth of outbound tourists was substantial. The fundamental driving force of market development comes from http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 increased national income, growth of consumerism and the convenient visa application process.
11 China Banking Association (2016), China Bank Service Improvement Report 2016 (online), available at: www.ocn.com.cn (16-03-2017). Newest trends of the Chinese tourism market 43
It must be noted that other factors like security and stability of the destination, and friendliness towards Chinese visitors are also influences over the choice of destinations. In the event of social unrest, security issues, epidemic diseases or natural disasters, Chinese travellers usually cancel or change destinations following government travel warnings.
2.2 Characteristics of Chinese outbound tourists
2.2.1 Overview of changes and characteristics of Chinese tourists
The concept of travel for Chinese outbound tourists has changed substantially. The Chinese outbound tourist has evolved from sightseeing and shopping to slowing down and enjoying the holiday experience. Originally, many saw travel as simply a way to see the world, enjoy life, and check destinations off their list. Today, travel is seen more from a perspective of experiencing local life at a destination. A growing number of tourists conduct research on where to go, what to do and what to eat before departure. The concept of “slow travel” has gained popularity with activities such as tours of strolling through a city, canoe tours, or simply sitting at a sidewalk café. Even when travelling with a tour group, Chinese travellers want to have one day to themselves to shop or to relax. Additionally, Chinese travellers look for itineraries that they can design themselves with a travel agency. Most consumers are reluctant to join a random tour group and instead form their own tour groups with family members or friends, even it means paying more. Often these groups may have family members from three generations and these consumers have higher expectations from the travel agencies.
While the consumer preferences have evolved so too have the purchase methods. The changes of outbound tourism purchase methods are marked by three stages. The first stage from (1990s–2003) was travel agency oriented where most customers would buy package tours. In the second stage (2003–2006), it shifted to be product oriented. During this stage, consumers were loyal to specific travel agency brands. The third stage (2007 to present) can be classified as more customer oriented. With the popularization of Internet, customers are able to obtain more diversified, transparent and comparable information. The new generation prefers independent travel, as a result of which, personalized and customized products become mainstream.
Chinese outbound tourists gradually stopped bringing large amounts of cash and more consumers started to use credit cards. Today, UnionPay is the most widely used card trailed by Visa and Mastercard but a new trend in payment over the Internet has grown substantially in recent years. Of particular note, the younger generation of consumers prefers mobile payment channels like Wechat. In 2016, there were 731 million Internet users and 695 million mobile netizens, of which, 67.5% (469 million) used mobile payment. Payment at the physical store by scanning a QR code accounted for 50.3% of the mobile payment users12.Focusing on the Chinese outbound travel consumption, Alipay has established mobile service systems of air ticket and hotel booking, international remittance, cards and transportation, shopping and tax refunding, expediting the http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 layout of globalization. In October 2016, during the global payment industry summit, Money 20/20, Alipay partnered with First Data, an American company that covers 118 countries, and the payment reader manufacturer, Verifone. Shinsei Bank of Japan introduced Wechat payment, firstly
12 China Internet Network Information Center (2016), China Internet network development state statistic report 2016 (online), available at: www.cnnic.net.cn (22-01-2017). 44 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
to the comprehensive duty free shop, Laox and later to the shopping malls, home appliance stores and convenience shops. In April 2017, Alipay joined Rossmann, the commodity supermarket chain in Germany through collaboration with the Munich payment solution provider, Wirecard.
2.2.2 Characteristics of Chinese millennial travellers
From 2007 to 2014, the Report on the Outbound Tourism Market of the Three Major Generating Areas of China13 was written for the World Travel Fair held every May in Shanghai. These reports are released to the public during the trade show. For this purpose, interviews with travel agencies, online tourism agencies and cruise operators in the three major market areas (Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Beijing and Guangdong) were conducted, concluding that the millennials are becoming a new force of China’s consumer market. Their consumptive ideals and models have brought profound changes to the outbound tourism market.
The millennial generation in China grew up during the country’s rapid economic development. As a result this generation has largely benefited from a favourable environment and a generally affluent life at an early age. Due to China’s one-child policy, this generation was the single child of the family and had greater access to education than other generations because the national educational expenditure doubled. There are more professional white-collar and freelancers whose average income and interest for travel are higher than their parents’ generation. Therefore, many have started to travel thousands of miles before graduation and consider outbound tourism as one of life’s essentials.
Over the last decade, among all the outbound tourists, the millenial generation has increased the most rapidly. Based on its online booking data, Ctrip collaborated with China Tourism Academy to publish the Big Data on China outbound tourism 201614, which points out that 50% of the outbound visitors were born in the 1970s and 1980s while those born in the 1990s and 2000s are recently entering the market.
The millenial generation tends to share their travel experiences over social media. Tourists born in the 1970s tend to post landscape while the 1980s generation enjoy showing off food and wine with the 1990s mainly posting selfies through social media. From large online communication groups to small intimate social circles, the mode of communication has switched from informational to experiential. Another feature of this group is that their travel decisions are often inspired by their peer groups. With more people surfing online through the mobile devices, forwarding contents in small circles and discussing via Wechat, once a destination is proposed, soon it is turned into action. There is a large proportion of last minute purchases from millennials who tend to be solo travellers or who tend to travel in small groups that share the same interests.
The millennials demand their product and service to be “smaller, faster and more flexible”, which translates into more personalized, mobile, convenient and efficient. Instead of waiting for http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 everything to be ready, their consumption habits are more impulsive. They’re willing to spend money but try to avoid blind consumption. For instance, they usually plan one night of luxury hotel
13 Xu, F. (2007–2014), Report on the Outbound Tourism Market of the Three Major Generating Areas of China.
14 Ctrip and China Tourism Academy. Newest trends of the Chinese tourism market 45
and the other two nights of regular accommodation. In terms of dining, they’re willing to shrink the meal budget for two days in order to have one fancy premium tasting experience.
The millennials love shopping and value the freedom of self-expression by selecting their own style. Without the language and technical barriers, the young generation always receives the first hand information from market. They are the FIGARO (the Chinese version of an European luxury and style magazine) subscribers who read regularly about what and where to buy before the trip. Some even place the order online and go to the shop to pick up their order upon arrival.
In the past, consumers completed reservations of their air ticket, hotel, and visa from one supplier like www.ctrip.com. Nowadays, millennials prefer to buy tickets from www.ctrip.com, then redirect to www.booking.com for hotels or www.AVIA.com to rent cars at the destination. Many travellers seize the opportunity of airline promotions to nail down cheap air tickets first and search for hotel and other services accordingly. Meanwhile, a growing number of travellers are moving from Chinese websites to international travel websites. There are more and more people who use www.tianxun.com or checking out flights and visitation of www.youzhan.com and www.travelzoo.com. The latest trends are shifting from a fixed end to a mobile end and from advance purchase to simultaneous shopping while travelling.
Internet connection has become a necessity of outbound travel. According to the Big Data on China outbound tourism 2016 from Ctrip15, most tourists surf online by three methods: Wi-Fi, phone card and international roaming. About 30% of the outbound tourists choose Wi-Fi and the average rent of Wi-Fi by Ctrip is USD 1.5 per day in countries like Japan and the Republic of Korea. One device can be connected to 3–5 mobile phones simultaneously, equaling to a per capita cost of USD 43 cents each day. Another 45% of the outbound population use phone cards. The prices of sim card for Internet in Japan and Thailand are USD 9.5 (8 day plan) and USD 5 (7 day plan) respectively. International roaming is relatively more expensive. Therefore, most users are business travellers. Of the three channels, Wi-Fi is the fastest growing market with almost 10 million travellers using Wi-Fi service provided by Ctrip in 2016, a 200% increase.
The millenial generation is the forerunner of revolutionary payment methods and pioneers for cashless payment. Travellers born in the 1970s are loyal card users while those born in the 1980s and the 1990s enjoy online shopping and Wechat payment respectively. Whether it is daily transaction or international travel, as long as the mobile is in hand, they take care of everything by simply scanning a QR code. Some would even find out if there is a Wechat official account when checking out new destinations.
2.2.3 Characteristics of Chinese free independent travel (FIT) market
In 2014, domestic tourists on organized tours accounted for 4.5%16 of the total traveller numbers of China, decreasing significantly from 2010 (17.5%).17 A large number of private cars, more http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 convenient public transportation, the changes of travel ideals and modes might well explain the sharp decline.
15 Ctrip and China Tourism Academy.
16 China National Tourism Administration (2015), A Sample Survey of Domestic Tourism, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
17 China National Tourism Administration (2011), A Sample Survey of Domestic Tourism, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing. 46 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In 2014, the organized tours accounted for 36.6% of the total outbound market.18 However, it is difficult to contend that the non-organized 60% are the precise portion to be attributed to free independent travel because of problems of definition of non-organized and independent travel. According to the travel agency Mafengwo, a service platform that joined the China Tourism Academy to publish the 2015 Global Independent Travel Report19 it was pointed out that, based on big data of online bookings, free independent travel accounted for 90% of total domestic tourists and 70% of total outbound tourists. The young generation made up the majority of the outbound tourists and their contribution by age groups born in the 1980s (42.6%), 1990s (26.5%) and 1970s (21.2%).
Just like different versions of computers, FITs’ consumptive ideals upgrade constantly.
FIT market version 1.0 – My trip, I decide. Many people use travel as a chance to rebalance life and work. Free independent travel started when consumers purchased only the air ticket and hotel from online travel agencies (OTAs) or from travel agencies like www.ctrip.com, which are highly recognized for their individual reservation service, and China Youth Travel Agency, the first in the trade to launch the FIT programmes. FIT is further divided into semi-independent travel (purchasing FIT products from the travel agency) and independent travel (completely self-guided itinerary). Tourists who seek in-depth experience with a budget often choose the semi-independent tour while experienced travellers without language barriers usually go with the latter.
FIT market version 2.0 – Customized product to meet my needs. As tourists born in the 80s, 90s and 00s entering the market one after another, the need for self-guided tours is growing rapidly. FIT products tend to be more flexible and travel websites are becoming increasingly modularized to cater to consumers who have the maximum freedom of choice. When searching for a product under the FIT section, detailed sub-items like destination region, duration of stay, travel dates and price range are provided to help consumers to nail down the product that suit them the best. It is similar to ready-to-assemble goods where customers can assemble products by themselves. The short distance markets like Japan, the Republic of Korea and South-East Asian countries are completely manageable for self-guided tourists.
FIT market version 3.0 – Travel is the experience in a foreign land. As the mobile end expands to every aspect of life, there has never been a better time than now to buy air ticket, hotel, visa and local tour products online. Travellers take leave without delay and continue purchasing products while travelling. To roam the city and discover local communities, they usually check in hotels in the urban center. The needs for personalized and localized in-depth experience have created more diversified, fragmented products and free combinations.
One trend of the FIT market is marked by the extended itinerary. Tourists spread across Southeast Asia, Africa, North and South America and even the Polar Regions. China has become the fourth largest visitor market to the South Pole (with 3,042 visitors in 2014).20 Another trend of the FIT http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
18 China National Tourism Administration (2015), The Yearbook of China Tourism Statistics, China Travel & Tourism Press, Beijing.
19 Mafengwo and China Tourism Academy (2016), 2015 Global Independent Travel Report, in Chinese (online), available at: www.pinchain.com (21-08-2017).
20 International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (2015), 2014–2015 Annual Data, IAATO (online), available at: www.ylly.com (15-08-2017). Newest trends of the Chinese tourism market 47
market is that visitation from the coastal and economic strong cities keep increasing steadily while tourists from the developing inland areas will grow substantially.
Outbound self-driving tour is growing rapidly. The most popular destinations for self-driving tours in 2015 include the United States of America, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and Canada.21 www.zuzuche.com is a professional website dedicated to overseas self-driving travellers. Beside links to AVIA, Hertz, Budget, Alamo, Dollar, Europcar, Sixt, National, Thrifty and Yesaway, it also provides relevant services to related products such as car rent (including campers), Chinese GPS, international driving document certification, Chinese translation for picking up the car, Sim cards of destination, entrance tickets and portable Wi-Fi. This website has served over 5 million outbound self-driving tours so far. Being the most influential social network for self-drivers in China, cross-country is the club of the millennials with a daily visitation of about 9 million. Among the best-rated overseas driving blogs in 2016, there are groups of four driving a caravan pass through 26 Eurasian countries for eight months and 60,000 km, and avid lovers completing the famous CH-7 Carretera Austral in Chile. There are also fleets of 20 campers and 40 drivers that entered Europe through the Russian Federation and Finland, spending four months on the road and travellers who drive around Australia and Africa to film wildlife.
Independent travellers rely on Wi-Fi to navigate through the destination. Portable Wi-Fi, portable power source and selfiestick have made into the top-10 of traveller’s must-pack list. In 2015, 71% of the outbound travellers used Wi-Fi to check out maps of restaurants and attractions. Another 16% of the tourists posted pictures at Wechat and Weibo during the trip. There were 7% travellers who started real time communication online and 2.5% users sent or received emails to work during travel. Portable Wi-Fi are widely used in these regions: Europe (42%), America (25%), Asia (20%), Africa and Middle East (8%), Oceania (5%) and the top-15 list of Wi-Fi using destinations include Italy, France, United States of America, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Turkey, China, Australia, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Austria and the Republic of Korea.22
The fun of independent travel lies in the excitement of smooth navigation through the destination and having a good time with travel tips. Online tourism enterprises like Ctrip and Mafengwo (www.mafengwo.com) serve as the one-stop self-guided platforms. The Japan forum on Mafengwo features 7,500 types of delicacies, 3,200 attractions, 26,000 hotels and hundreds of travel products for the potential visitors to browse and reserve. One can also read popular city guides, themed travel instruction and travel blogs online or even consult local Chinese for travel tips and search for travel partners who plan for the same destination. Until 10 April 2017, travel tip downloads from Mafengwo were: Japan 1.39 million, Tokyo 1.39 million, Kyoto 0.8 million and Osaka 0.75 million.
FIT market has a higher demand for conveniences, as a result of which, ADS with easy and higher visa approval are growing fast and those connected to China by direct flights are even faster.
The high-end niche market entrust their travel requirements to various luxury clubs, private clubs http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 or high-end studios. VIP branch of the banks, insurance companies, airlines also provide business travel and outbound tourism. Besides, they make reservation through online travel agencies platforms as well.
21 Mafengwo and China Tourism Academy (2016).
22 Ibid. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM - Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 49
Chapter 3 Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions
Summary This chapter analyses China outbound tourist source markets. First, the Mainland China market (excluding Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China) is divided into three regions by GDP, disposable income of urban residents and other indicators. The structure of outbound tourists and outbound tourism products are analysed by region. This provides important reference values when destination countries carry out targeted marketing activities in the Chinese market.
Keywords – Tourist source market; –– Outbound tour operator; –– Tourist traffic structure; and –– Features of tourism product.
Key messages – China is a vast country with uneven economic development among provinces and cities. Therefore, the quantity, spending power and consumption preferences of outbound tourists vary from region to region; –– Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and other eastern coastal developed areas contribute the main source of visitors and are therefore termed as tier 1 tourist-generating regions. The central and fairly developed western provinces and cities are promising markets and hence defined as tier 2 tourist-generating regions. Meanwhile, the economically underdeveloped remote western provinces have limited outbound tourists and are hence defined as tier 3 tourist-generating regions; –– In comparison, travellers from tier 2 and tier 3 tourist-generating regions tend to choose short-haul destinations such as Asia, while those from tier 1 regions prefer long-haul destinations; –– In tier 1 regions, quality outbound tourism products take up a large proportion, while themed, special and customized tourism products are on the rise; and –– In tier 2 and tier 3 regions, traditional sightseeing products are still the mainstream, but quality and in-depth tourism products are becoming increasingly popular in tier 2 regions.
3.1 Segmentation of Chinese outbound tourist-generating regions
According to the National Bureau of Statics of China, the total population of Mainland China reached 1.38271 billion in 2016, of which 792.98 million were urban population and 589.73 million were rural population.1 In terms of administrative divisions, Mainland China has 31 provincial administrative regions, including 22 provinces, five autonomous regions and four municipalities directly under the central government. Under the combined effects of natural geography, historical reasons and other factors, the economic development of provinces and cities is imbalanced. Eastern coastal cities enjoy developed economy with a well-off standard of living, while western http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 provinces and cities are less developed. As a result, tourists in eastern and western regions exhibit different behaviours and preferences.
1 National Bureau of Statistics of China (2017), Statistical Communiqué of the People’s Republic of China on the 2016 National Economic and Social Development (online), available at: www.stats.gov.cn (28-02-2017). 50 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
China’s per capita GDP surpassed USD 8,000 in 2016 when tourism consumption entered the explosive growth stage. Benefiting from sustained and steady growth of the national economy, the consumption level of Chinese people has seen a marked increase. The urban middle class has expanded rapidly, driving huge outbound travel demand. At present, urban residents with a higher income are the main drivers of China’s outbound tourism market. According to the World Economic Forum and research data of Boston Consulting Group, China’s upper-middle class (USD 24,001 to USD 46,000 in annual disposable income) and affluent class (more than USD 46,000) are expected to reach 13.4 million households in 2020, with expenditure growing at 17% annually.2 Most of these households are concentrated in three economic zones along eastern coastal areas: the Beijing-centered Bohai Sea Economic Zone, the Shanghai-oriented Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone, and the Guangzhou-centered Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. These areas have become important sources of China’s outbound tourism.
China’s outbound tourism source market is classified into three regions by per capita GDP, per capita disposable income of urban residents, and the number of affluent people: tier 1 tourist- generating regions, tier 2 tourist-generating regions and tier 3 tourist-generating regions.
3.1.1 Tier 1 tourist-generating regions
Tier 1 regions include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian.3 These regions have a per capita GDP of more than USD 10,000 and are the top-7 provinces (municipalities) in terms of per capita disposable income of urban residents, see table 3.1. These regions house over half of China’s middle class and wealthy urban families, and residents have both a high demand and aptitude for outbound tourism.4
Among all the tier 1 tourist-generating regions, Guangdong’s GDP totaled at USD 1,197 billion in 2016, ranking first in the country, followed by Jiangsu (with GDP over USD 1,000 billion). The per capita GDP of Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin all reached USD 17,000 or above, ranking among the top levels in the country. Moreover, Beijing and Shanghai boast the country’s highest per capita disposable income of urban residents (both above USD 8000). http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
2 Youchi, K. (2016), ‘3 Great Forces Changing China’s Consumer Market’, World Economic Forum (online), available at: www.weforum.org (22-03-2017).
3 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
4 World Tourism Organization (2014), Chinese Outbound Travel to the Middle East and North Africa, UNWTO, Madrid. p. 18. Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 51
Figure 3.1 Distribution of tier 1 tourist-generating regions
Beijing
Tianjin
Jiangsu
Shanghai
Zhejiang
Fujian
Guangdong
Source: Adapted from © Pablo Fernandez Rivera | Dreamstime.com
Table 3.1 Economic development of tier 1 tourist-generating regions, 2016 Cities and Population GDP GDP per capita Per capita disposable provinces (million) (USD billion) (USD) income of urban family (USD)
Guangdong 101.00 1,197.06 11,034 5,673
Jiangsu 79.98 1,145.48 14,361 6,045
Zhejiang 55.90 699.83 12,635 7,112 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Fujian 38.74 429.36 11,184 5,422
Shanghai 24.19 413.50 17,120 8,686
Beijing 21.72 374.86 17,271 8,623
Tianjin 15.62 269.27 17,406 5,591
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China (2017), Statistical Communiqué of the People’s Republic of China on the 2016 National Economic and Social Development, published 28 February 2017 (online), available at: www.stats.gov.cn (08-08-2017). 52 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Because of the level of economic development, residents in tier 1 regions have more opportunities to interact with the outside world, and consequently have broader horizons. Consumers in this region are more open-minded and always seek new things. They seemingly find it easier to accept new things, are less conservative and have a spirit of adventure. They like entertainment and know how to enjoy life. Beijing, as the political, economic and cultural center of china, is the largest tourist source market of the tier 1 tourist-generating regions. Consumers in Beijing have access to latest information and opportunities for frequent international exchanges. Beijingers have broadened their views over the last decade in particular, and they pay more attention to cultural taste and personal experience than in the past and when compared to consumers in other regions. Furthermore, their consumption is driven by emotional responses, and they have quicker response and higher enthusiasm towards the new destination and activities once convinced of their value.5
3.1.2 Tier 2 tourist-generating regions
Tier 2 tourist-generating regions mainly include China’s central provinces, as well as some western provinces with relatively well-off economies.6 GDP in these provinces and cities is at a moderately developed level, with per capita GDP mainly from USD 5,000–10,000, see table 3.2. These regions account for about 40% of the country’s affluent class.7
The total economic output of tier 2 tourist-generating regions is usually at national par. Currently, tier 1 tourist-generating regions as represented by Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are still the main source of outbound visitors, but it must not be overlooked that tier 2 tourist-generating regions have a large number of residents. With rising living standards and incomes, people in tier 2 tourist-generating regions have an increasing demand for outbound travels. Hence, tier 2 tourist- generating regions represent a great potential as a source market. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
5 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
6 Ibid.
7 World Tourism Organization (2014), p. 20. Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 53
Figure 3.2 Distribution of tier 2 tourist-generating regions
Heilongjiang
Jilin
Liaoning
Inner Mongolia
Hebei
Shanxi Shandong
Shaanxi Henan
Anhui Hubei Sichuan Chongqing
Jiangxi Hunan
Guangxi
Hainan
Source: Adapted from © Pablo Fernandez Rivera | Dreamstime.com
Table 3.2 Economic development of tier 2 tourist-generating regions, 2016 Cities and Population GDP GDP per capita Per capita disposable provinces (million) (USD billion) (USD) income of urban family (USD)
Shandong 99.46 1,008.81 10,245 5,121
Henan 95.32 604.61 6,378 4,100 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Sichuan 82.62 492.01 5,997 4,266
Hubei 58.85 486.25 8,310 4,424
Hebei 74.70 479.17 6,454 4,252
Hunan 68.22 470.39 6,935 4,710 54 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Cities and Population GDP GDP per capita Per capita disposable provinces (million) (USD billion) (USD) income of urban family (USD)
Anhui 61.95 363.10 5,910 4,389
Liaoning 43.77 331.78 7,571 4,947
Shaanxi 38.12 288.54 7,607 4,282
Inner Mongolia 25.20 280.51 11,171 4,964
Jiangxi 45.92 276.48 6,056 4,317
Guangxi 47.96 274.68 5,727 4,251
Chongqing 30.48 264.35 8,763 4,458
Heilongjiang 38.33 231.64 6,043 3,873
Jilin 27.33 224.11 8,140 3,994
Shanxi 36.81 194.64 5,312 4,118
Hainan 9.17 60.89 6,685 4,284
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China (2017).
Due to the government policy support and local geographic resources, the tier 2 tourist-generating regions are blessed with huge economic growth potential. The urban dwellers in this region have a strong desire to travel overseas, but are very sensitive to the price of tourism products and destinations given the level of consumption. Compared with tourists from tier 1 tourist-generating regions, travellers from these source markets have less spirit of adventure and little passion for new things. Consumers here are relatively conservative in their selection of destinations, and their acceptance of new destination lags behind those from tier 1 tourist-generating regions. More people choose to join a tour organized by travel services than travelling independently especially to long-haul destinations. Most tourists in these regions travel to Southeast Asian countries, Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and the Taiwan Province of China when they travel overseas for the first time.8
3.1.3 Tier 3 tourist-generating regions
Tier 3 tourist-generating regions are located primarily in the remote west of China.9 This region accommodates about 10% of the country’s wealthy class.10 As the economic development of these regions is not as advanced and has a relatively smaller population, the outbound traffic is not as significant.
The economy in these regions has been backward for decades of and information is hardly http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 accessible for these remote areas. Due to their locations in inner China and underdeveloped
8 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
9 Ibid.
10 World Tourism Organization (2014), p. 21. Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 55
economies, dwellers here have relatively lower demands for overseas travel. Consequently, the growth for outbound tourism from these regions is much less when compared with other economically developed areas. Tourists in these regions are very price sensitive and pay more attention to economy tourist products. There is little private sector tourism and most of the current outbound tourists from this region are entrepreneurs of private companies, business travellers from government offices or state-owned enterprises. Leisure travellers are price sensitive and tend to choose multi-destination sightseeing tours organized by travel services.11
Figure 3.3 Distribution of tier 3 tourist-generating regions
Xinjiang Gansu
Ningxia
Qinghai
Tibet
Guizhou
Yunnan
Source: Adapted from © Pablo Fernandez Rivera | Dreamstime.com http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
11 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting. 56 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Table 3.3 Economic development of tier 3 tourist-generating regions, 2016 Cities and Population GDP GDP per capita Per capita disposable provinces (million) (USD billion) (USD) income of urban family (USD)
Yunnan 47.42 223.87 4,721 4,307
Guizhou 35.55 176.66 5,005 4,026
Xinjiang 23.60 143.78 6,092 4,252
Gansu 26.09 107.67 4,142 3,864
Ningxia 6.47 47.42 6,996 4,065
Qinghai 5.93 38.73 6,582 4,028
Note: Given that there are few outbound travellers in Tibet, so Tibet is neglected and not analysed in this chapter.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China (2017).
3.2 Outbound traffic organized by travel agencies
Pursuant to China’s tourism laws and regulations, travel agencies, to engage in outbound travel services, need to be approved by CNTA. According to statistics of CNTA, as at the end of 2016, there were more than 28,000 travel agencies in China and 3803 were granted the outbound business qualification, accounting for 13.6%.12
3.2.1 Outbound traffic of tier 1 tourist-generating regions
Among the 3,803 travel agencies with outbound qualifications, 1,863 or 49% are in tier 1 tourist- generating regions. Among them, Beijing has the highest number (752) in the country, followed by Guangdong (408).13
In 2015, the number of outbound tourists handled and organized by tour operators in tier 1 tourist- generating regions accounted for nearly 60% of the country’s total, wherein, 74% of the outbound traffic produced by tour operators in tier 1 tourist-generating regions flows to Asian destinations (excluding Hong Kong, China; Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China), 13.8% to Europe and about 5% to Americas and Oceania. Africa attracts only 1.8% of outbound tourists, the least among all destinations.14 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
12 China National Tourism Administration (2017a).
13 Ibid.
14 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting. Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 57
Figure 3.4 The number of travel agencies operating outbound travel business in tier 1 tourist-generating regions, 2016
800 752
700
600
500 408 400
300
197 200 181 164 110 100 51
0 Beijing Shanghai Guangdong Jiangsu Zhejiang Fujian Tianjin
Source: China National Tourism Administration (2017a), The list of travel agencies operating outbound travel business (online), available at: www.en.cnta.gov.cn (15-03-2017).
Figure 3.5 Flow structure of outbound traffic in tier 1 tourist-generating regions (%)
Africa (1.8) Oceania (4.9) America (5.5)
Europe (13.8)
Asia (74.0)
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 58 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
3.2.2 Outbound traffic of tier 2 tourist-generating regions
Tier 2 tourist-generating regions have 1,682 travel agencies with approval to carry out outbound travel business, accounting for 44% in the country. Shandong enjoys the largest number of outbound travel agencies (201), while the number in Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin and Sichuan has also exceeded 100.15 Given the vast population in these regions, their outbound tourism market has great potential.
The number of outbound travellers organized by travel agencies in tier 2 tourist-generating regions takes up 38% in the country’s total. Meanwhile, a lion’s share of tourists from tier 2 regions (83.6%) goes to Asian destinations, while Europe attracts only about 8% of the traffic. This indicates that compared with tier 1 regions, tourists of tier 2 regions prefer short-haul rather than long- haul destinations.16 The proximity in distance, convenient transportation and price advantages of short-range products have all contributed to the popularity of Asian countries in tier 2 regions.
Figure 3.6 The number of travel agencies operating outbound travel business in tier 2 tourist-generating regions, 2016
250
201 200 186
150 134 126 109 102 100 89 87 81 86 84 76 73 71 63 66 48 50
0 Jilin Anhui Hebei Hubei Henan Hunan Shanxi Hainan Jiangxi Shaanxi Sichuan Guangxi Liaoning Shandong Chongqing Heilongjiang Inner Mongolia
Source: China National Tourism Administration (2017a). http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
15 China National Tourism Administration (2017a).
16 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting. Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 59
Figure 3.7 Flow structure of outbound traffic in tier 2 tourist-generating regions (%)
Oceania (4.3) Africa (0.9) America (3.1)
Europe (8.0)
Asia (83.6)
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
3.2.3 Outbound traffic of tier 3 tourist-generating regions
Only 254 travel agencies can engage in outbound travel businesses in tier 3 markets, accounting for 7% in the country’s total, which contributes a mere 2% of outbound traffic. In terms of destination countries, Asia grabs 82.2% of all outbound traffic in the region, followed by Europe (11.3%) and Oceania (3.7%).17
Figure 3.8 The number of travel agencies operating outbound travel business in tier 3 tourist-generating regions, 2016
100
80 70
58 60 55
40 29 23 19 20 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
0 Guizhou Yunnan Qinghai Ningxia Xinjiang Gansu
Source: China National Tourism Administration (2017a).
17 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting. 60 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Figure 3.9 Flow structure of outbound traffic in tier 3 tourist-generating regions (%)
Oceania (3.7) Africa (1.2) America (1.5)
Europe (11.3)
Asia (82.2)
Source: Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting.
3.3 Features of tourism products in different tourist-generating regions
3.3.1 Tier 1 tourist-generating regions
High-end products are increasingly favoured by the market
Given that Chinese people’s income and wealth continue to increase thanks to the sustained and rapid economic growth, more and more citizens in tier 1 source markets have the ability and intention to buy and experience more high-end outbound tourism products. Especially, when tourists in tier 1 regions become increasingly experienced in outbound travels, they would raise more demanding requirements for the quality of tourism products and service level. Take Antarctic tourism as an example. The first tour group bound for the Antarctic was organized in 2007. Ever since then, people are more and more interested in travel to the continent. In accordance with the Annual Report of China Outbound Tourism Development 2012, a total of 452 and 612 Chinese citizens visited the Antarctic in the year 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 respectively.18 However, the number jumped to 5000 in the year 2016/2017, making China the second largest source of tourist arrivals, while most of them were from tier 1 source markets such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu.
Many tour operators in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other tier 1 regions have introduced high- end travel brands or travel routes and launches series of targeted high-end tourism products each year, in a bid to move up-market. HH Travel, a high-end brand under Ctrip, has been introducing the “Travel Around the World” series of high-end products since 2011. Consequently, the product http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 launched in 2011 (“Travel Around the World in 60 Days”) reached its full quota within 9 minutes, while the 2012 version (“Travel Around the World in 66 Days”) was sold out in just 30 seconds.19
18 China Tourism Academy (2012), Annual Report of China Outbound Tourism Development 2012, p. 104, Tourism Education Press, Beijing.
19 Ibid. Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 61
In 2017, HH Travel once again rolled out the “Travel Around the World in 60 Days” product. With departures from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Chengdu, the product mainly targets tourists in tier 1 source markets. In addition, MAGIC TRAVEL, a high-end travel brand affiliated to Beijing U-Tour International Travel Service, unveiled six series of high-end products in 2016: “Polar Series, Photography Series, South American Series, Experience Series, Exquisite Series, and Health Series” to meet the increasing demands for high-end tour experience.
In-depth travel products differentiate product offerings
With richer travel experience, tourists in tier 1 regions become increasingly inclined to in-depth travels at a favoured destination. Accordingly, tour operators in these markets, on top of tapping new destinations, pay more and more attention to develop in-depth, high-end tourism products and offer freer travel experience. Among them, in-depth travel products with one destination have become an important tool for tour operators to meet the demands of tourists and enhance their product differentiations. Take Europe as an example. Travel products with one European country occupy a large share among all European travel products in tier 1 regions. For example, CAISSA rolled out the “Germany panoramic tour”, “UK fashion tour”, “Italy artistic tour”, “France color tour” and other products associated with European countries in 2017. CITS Shanghai launched seven-day Switzerland tour and ten-day United Kingdom tour products in 2017, while Spring Tour released France in-depth tour products. The proportion of these in-depth products targeting one destination is significantly higher in tier 1 regions than in other regions.
Customized products are sought after
Outbound tourism is increasingly popular in China’s eastern coastal areas, especially in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other tier 1 regions. Diversified tourism needs have driven tour operators to perform product innovations and improve quality. Meanwhile, customized tourism products have been brought into focus. Customized products pay more attention to the “free choice” of tourists. That is, travellers may decide various aspects of their itinerary, from choice of destinations and products to schedule and tour activities. These products break the established model of route selling or tour groups. Featured custom products and personalized itineraries with new routes and destinations are highly sought after. According to the Annual Report on the Development of Chinese Tourism Listed Companies 2016 released by China National Tourism Administration, customized travels have been brought into the focus of the public and China’s tourism industry has entered into the age of customization. The year 2016 was defined as “Year One of Customized Tourism”. Many tourism customization companies have begun to take shape in the past two years. China’s largest online tour operator Ctrip went live its custom travel platform on 29 January 2016. Currently, the platform has more than 1,200 suppliers and close to 4,000 customization specialists, with destinations covering 956 cities in 107 countries. Shanghai and Beijing are the two most important source markets of the platform. Orders completed in Beijing via this platform have witnessed a year-on-year increase of 240%. Customization needs of Shanghai are mainly concentrated on business and incentive travels, while those of Beijing are http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 mainly for leisure and vacation customers.20 Moreover, Beijing U-tour International Travel Service officially announced its customization brand “U-Design” in May 2016. The brand can design travel solutions catering to the personalized needs of customers. In 2016, “U-Design” rolled out Mini Tour, U-love, and other featured fancy products.
20 China National Tourism Administration (2017b), The report on the development of Chinese tourism listed enterprises in 2016, in Chinese (online), available at: www.cnta.gov.cn (15-04-2017). 62 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Themed tourism products are on the increase
Unlike traditional cursory sightseeing products, themed tourism products tend to explore and experience a destination in-depth. Tour operators usually tailor-make travel routes and experiences based on the customer’s identity, personal needs, unique experience and consumption psychology. Themed products combine, package and plan events based on the distinctive natural environment, resources, properties, history and culture, customs, religion and art of destinations, to form a wide range of colourful tourism experiences. Different from traditional sightseeing, activities under themed tourism products usually target the interests and hobbies of the middle class. Such products have emerged in company with the maturity of the tourism market. During the National Day Golden Week holiday in 2015, Ctrip went live themed tourism channels, including 17 categories under 5 sectors: outdoor activities, cultural explorations, events and celebrations, outward training and improvement, and fitness and health. These 17 categories cover more than 100 products in the segments such as golf, diving, photography, sports events, travel weddings, physical examinations. Among them, there are products specially crafted for sports fans, such as the “6-day-5-night Premier League London trip”, products catering to brides like the “Mauritius 7-day-5-night wedding photography tour”, and high-end health products like “Japan basic physical checkup leisure trip” and “Germany live cell treatment high-end health trip”. In addition, ever since 2016, U-tour has been unveiling a series of festival-themed products including “I Have a Date with Spring” flower appreciation tours and “Fantastic Festivals and Where to Find Them”. The launch of festival tourism products on such a large scale is unprecedented in China. Hence, the flower appreciation tours encompass dozens of destinations, ranging from the hot Japanese Sakura and Netherlands tulips to the less well-known French Monet Garden and Swiss camellia. Such themed products become more and more popular in Beijing, Shanghai and other tier 1 regions of tourism source, with gradually increasing market shares.
3.3.2 Tier 2 tourist-generating regions
Quality tourism products draw more attention
Although sightseeing products still take up a lion’s share in tier 2 regions, it is apparent that quality tourism products receive more and more attention, and consumers increasingly value the choice of accommodation, catering, and flight and itinerary arrangement. Due to relatively backward economic development, citizens in tier 2 regions are sensitive to prices of outbound products, so the proportion of budget tours in the market is significantly higher than tier 1 regions. However, with richer outbound travel experience, customers in tier 2 regions are increasingly dissatisfied with the itinerary, transportation, accommodation and catering arrangements of low-price tours. Take Thailand as an example. According to the OPI report released by Ivy Alliance, among all the six-day Thailand tour products available in a dozen of tier 2 cities including Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan and Changsha in June 2015, around 11% had a price lower than CNY 3,000 (USD 482). In terms of itinerary, these budget products generally choose economy class and arrange many http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 shopping activities, almost every day throughout the tour.21 Data in June 2017 show that budget tours with a price lower than CNY 3,000 (USD 482) have decreased to 4% of all six-day Thailand travel products in these tier 2 regions.22
21 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting (2015), China outbound tourism price index, June 2015.
22 Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting (2017), China outbound tourism price index, June 2017. Analysis of China’s outbound tourist-generating regions 63
Emerging destinations are drawing attention
As for destinations of tourism products in tier 2 regions, traditional destination countries such as South-East Asian countries, the Republic of Korean, Japan, the United States of America, Australia and France are still the market’s focal point, but emerging destinations such as South America, Middle East and Africa, Northern Europe, and South Pacific are becoming increasingly popular. While struggling in the competitive, mature traditional destinations, tour operators strive to find new destinations and increase efforts to design new routes on top of traditional products and routes. For example, in 2017, Chengdu China Travel Service unveiled the eleven-day Morocco in-depth tour, ten-day Israel Jordan River exploration tour, and other products bound to Middle East and Africa. In addition, CITS Chongqing developed South America four-country tours, Nordic four-country in-depth tours, and other new products. These new destinations and products have enriched outbound products of tier 2 regions and expanded their scope of travel.
3.3.3 Tier 3 tourist-generating regions
Sightseeing products occupy an important position
At present, sightseeing products still dominate China’s tier 3 tourist-generating regions. The outbound tourism of tier 3 tourist-generating regions is still in its infancy, and sightseeing products are still the norm of the market. These products mainly revolve around capitals and major tourist cities of destination countries, covering the most representative natural landscapes and cultures and customs. These products highlight rich tour items with a compact schedule to visit many countries on a budget. Due to economic development level and income constraints, price is still the most important factor in consumers’ choice of tourism products.
Multi-destination tour products are the most popular
There are still many tour products connecting several destinations in tier 3 regions. Such products can satisfy consumers’ needs to see more countries or destinations in one trip, while the price is also favourable. Take Southeast Asian products as an example. The Singapore–Malaysia–Thailand connection products are still popular and occupy a relatively large market share in travel agencies of tier 3 regions. However, such connection products, in tier 1 regions as represented by Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou where outbound tourism had an early start, have diminished and are replaced by in-depth products featuring one of these three destinations. In addition, as for long- haul destinations such as European countries, combined products such as Germany–France– Italy–Switzerland tours and Nordic four-country tours are the most common in tier 3 markets, while tier 1 and tier 2 cities have seen more in-depth tours with one destination.
All-inclusive group products account for a high proportion http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Many travellers from tier 3 regions travel to a foreign country for the first time. Given their limited outbound travel experience and unfamiliarity with foreign environment, coupled with language barriers, they are more willing to choose group tour products. Consumers from tier 3 regions do not generally have specific requirements on itinerary. The all-inclusive group tour products cover catering, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping and entertainment aspects, thereby averting stress and strain arising from unfamiliarity with local conditions. This eliminates many uncertainties. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM - Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 65
Chapter 4 Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market
Summary As of the end of 2016, a total of 150 countries had been granted ADS, among which 124 had launched comprehensive outbound travel services for Chinese citizens. Given that China is the world’s largest source market of outbound tourists, many destination countries attach great importance to marketing and promotional activities in the Chinese market, hoping to enlarge their market share. This Chapter selects ten representative destination countries and cities from Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Americas, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Thailand, France, Switzerland and Los Angeles (United States of America), and then summarizes and analyses in a systematic manner their successful marketing approaches. The case studies on above-mentioned destinations are focused on introducing their success stories and practical solutions in their penetration of China’s outbound tourism market.
Key words – Policies and planning; –– Product development; –– Marketing; –– Travel facilitation; and –– Technological developments.
Key messages – The opening-up and development of China outbound tourism has benefited many destinations. How a destination succeeds in the Chinese market is closely dependent on the policies and strategies it deploys to exploit the Chinese market; –– In line with the development features of China outbound tourism market and changes in the needs of Chinese tourists, destinations have adopted segmented market strategies for product development with a wide range of themed products to fully tap the market potential; –– In terms of marketing and promotion, destinations fully capitalize on Chinese localized marketing channels and the influence of China’s social media, with flexible, innovative and diverse themed marketing campaigns and promotion means; and –– Being fully aware of the characteristics of Chinese culture and the needs of Chinese travellers, destination countries have rolled out diverse facilitation services for the Chinese market, which have added to their attractiveness and competitiveness.
4.1 Australia
In 1999, Australia was one of the first western countries to be granted the ADS. Australia has unique animals, plants and natural landscapes. Its rich tourism resources and sound tourism infrastructure make it one of the desirable destinations for medium- and long-haul tours for http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Chinese tourists. The past few years have seen a steadily growing number of Chinese visitors travelling to Australia. Australia hosted 1.2 million Chinese visitors in 2016, an increase of 17% from the previous year.1 China has become the second largest source market of international
1 Tourism Australia (2017), China Market Profile 2017, p. 1 (online), available at: www.tourism.australia.com (15-06-2017). 66 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
arrivals to Australia, while Chinese visitors spend contributed AUD 9.2 billion (USD 6.6 billion) to the Australian economy. It is expected that by 2020, Chinese visitors may bring over AUD 13 billion (USD 9.3 billion) to Australia.2
China is Australia’s most valuable inbound tourism market. Australia has increased investments and taken innovative approaches in market planning, destination image promotion, multi- dimensional integrated marketing, travel specialist programmes, premier partner programmes, and visa application simplification. All these efforts are intended to make Australia more attractive as a tourist destination in the eyes of Chinese travellers.
4.1.1 Policies and planning
China 2020 strategic plan
Since Australia became an ADS in 1999, the number of Chinese visitors to Australia has grown rapidly. China has become an important source of international visitor arrivals, driving the overall growth of tourism in Australia. To improve the competitiveness and market share of Australia in China’s outbound tourism market, Australia introduced the “China 2020 Strategic Plan” in 2011 geared towards the next decade of China’s tourism market. The Plan aims to unlock the potential of the Chinese market and ensure Australia’s competitiveness amid fierce market competition.3
To achieve the goals specified under the “China 2020 Strategic Plan”, Tourism Australia identifies five pivotal strategic areas:4 –– Knowing the customer: identify and gain more insights into Chinese target customers, to ensure the competitive edge of Australian tourism; –– A dedicated geographic strategy: formulate geographic strategies to effectively utilize resources; –– Delivering quality Australian tourism experiences: boost development of the trade relations and provide training for trade partners to ensure meeting the demands of Chinese visitors and deliver high-quality tourism experience; –– A healthy aviation development environment: guarantee sustainable, stable aviation capacity and services; and –– Strengthen partnerships with government and industry.
Tourism Australia evaluated 600 potential cities in China, developed phased strategies to tap into tier 2 cities with potentially a large number of visitor sources to better understand Chinese consumers and their needs. Tourism Australia is expanding its marketing and distribution activities via a three phased approach to 2020.5 Targeted marketing plans were deployed for different geographic locations based on consumer preferences, tourism environment, outbound travel market maturity, economic level and other differentiated elements. To implement the geographic http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
2 Tourism Australia (2017), China Market Profile 2017, p. 1 (online), available at: www.tourism.australia.com (15-06-2017).
3 Tourism Australia (2011), China 2020 Strategic Plan 2011, p. 1 (online), available at: www.tourism.australia.com (15-06-2017).
4 Australian Government and Tourism Australia (2012), 2020 China Strategic Plan – Progress Report, p. 1 (online), available at: www.tourism.australia.com (15-06-2017).
5 Tourism Australia (2011), pp. 2–3. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 67
strategy and expand the scope of promotion, Tourism Australia increased consumer marketing activities from three cities in 2011 (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) to six in 2013 (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing and Qingdao). In 2012, Tourism Australia expanded its trade development activities to 13 cities. Such a strategy enables progressing at multiple fronts while strengthening market penetration, hence laying a solid foundation for the success of China 2020 goal. Since the plan’s launch, inbound tourism from China has grown significantly. Visitor numbers have increased 11% and visitor spend has increased 20% in 2012/2013 compared to 2011/2012.6
Visa policies
In response to the growing number of applications, Australia simplified the visa application procedures by implementing the “quick review” visa processing service for Chinese travellers since March 2016. Australia launched the unprecedented visa policy in December 2016 by piloting the ten-year validity visa for Chinese citizens, which was the first time that Australia had granted ten-year multiple entry visa for foreign citizens. Additionally, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection of Australia implemented the online visa application form in Chinese. All these measures have eliminated unnecessary procedures for Chinese visitors to complete the visa application and have stimulated their travel to Australia.
4.1.2 Product development
Themed product development led by global branding campaigns
With the destination positioning and global consumer marketing campaign, “There is nothing like Australia”, Tourism Australia strives to demonstrate some of the very best attractions and experiences Australian tourism has on offer by exploring the unique tourism resources and advantages of the destination and developing differentiated themed tourism products. In response to the growing demand for food and wine as part of the travel experience, Tourism Australia put on show Australia’s food and wine, as well as other world-class experiences in 2014. The promotion on Australia’s finest food and wine offerings and services was a specific representation and evolvement of the “There’s nothing like Australia” campaign in the product development aspect. “Food & Wine” campaign was also launched in China at the same time, primarily marketing the signature food and wine of Australia to Chinese consumers. It provided a compelling reason for Chinese tourists to visit Australia while offering a new direction and theme for Chinese tour operators in the development of products and routes.
In 2016, on top of food and wine promotion, Tourism Australia unveiled the “Aquatic and Coastal” themed promotion worldwide including China, to focus on Australia’s world-class aquatic and costal beauties and showcase another aspect of “There’s nothing like Australia” to Chinese visitors. More than ten featured aquatic activities and tourism products were among the recommendation list, http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 including overlooking the 12 Apostles from a helicopter, swimming in Sydney Harbor, snorkeling in Great Barrier Reef, rafting on Katherine Gorge, and cycling around Lake Burley Griffin.
6 Australian Government and Tourism Australia (2013b), Tourism Australia’s journey 2010 to 2013, p. 6 (online), available at: www.tourism.australia.com (15-06-2017). 68 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Deepening industry cooperation
The continued growth in the number of Chinese tourists to Australia is inseparable from the distribution network established by Australia in China and the close cooperation with the industry. Reinforcing training for travel agents, expanding the trade distribution network, and strengthening cooperation with airlines have always been important strategies adopted by Australia to expand the Chinese market.
Travel specialist training plan
The Aussie Specialist Program (ASP) is a global online training programme launched by Tourism Australia for travel agents, with the aim to enhance the knowledge and skills of frontline travel agents to better promote Australia’s tourist destinations and sell Australia. The ASP for the Chinese market was presented as early as 2002. As at December 2016, there were over 8,500 qualified Aussie Specialists in Mainland China.7 At the end of 2015, Tourism Australia organized the “Premier ASP” programme towards the frontline Chinese travel agents. “Premier ASP” was an elite recruitment programme aimed at encouraging frontline sales to continuously improve their professional level and strengthen their competence of the sales teams of travel agencies. In this way, travel agencies and agents could offer better quality services to consumers.
Through ASP and Premier ASP, Tourism Australia has successfully cemented long-term cooperative and win-win relations with the Chinese travel trade. The premier Aussie specialists programme has helped bring rich and varied travel experience and professional products of Australia to consumers in broader markets, stimulate the development of new tour products, boost the growth of Australian tourism, and promote the development of high-quality Australian tourism.
Distribution channel expansion
In 2014, Tourism Australia launched the Key Distribution Partner (KDP) programme in China. The KDP programme selected a small number of Chinese tour operators and established an elite distribution network, to drive the healthy and sustained development of Chinese outbound tourism market to Australia. In addition, Tourism Australia developed and promoted brand-new innovative tourism products for the fast-growing middle-class consumers in China, and optimized the distribution network to better meet the personalized demands of Chinese tourists.8
In order to be better aligned with China’s online consumption trends and the development of the independent travel market, Tourism Australia expanded its strategic alliance with travel trade partners and extended the scope of cooperation to grab the market opportunities. In 2015, Tourism Australia struck a strategic partnership with Alitrip, China’s leading Internet and mobile distribution platform. Leveraging on the online sales and data analysis capabilities of Alitrip, Tourism Australia was able to accurately target segmented markets and gain a solid understanding of Chinese consumers, particularly the preferences of independent travellers, such that it could present highly http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 personalized product portfolios and experiences that catered to different needs. Meanwhile,
7 Tourism Australia (2017), p. 7.
8 Tourism Australia (2017), p. 8. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 69
Tourism Australia launched advertising, PR, digital marketing and consumer marketing campaigns joining forces with Alitrip and tourism organizations of Australian states and territories.
At the end of 2016, Tourism Australia cemented a strategic partnership with China’s leading online travel agencies Ctrip, and officially launched the “Australian Pavilion” on Ctrip. In addition, the two carried out cooperation in product development and promotion, media relations, member marketing and data mining, to bring Australia’s rich tourism resources and unique travel experiences to more Chinese tourists.
Increasing aviation capacity through cooperation with airlines
In addition to the expansion and optimization of distribution channels, Tourism Australia also focuses on the collaboration with airlines to increase the existing aviation capacity and open new direct routes between China and Australia. Currently, Tourism Australia has established long-term close cooperation mechanisms with Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines, to cooperate in an all-round manner from routes development, marketing to resource sharing.
At the end of 2016, Australia and China signed a landmark open aviation marketing agreement. The agreement removed all capacity restrictions between Australia and China for airlines and liberalized traffic rights and code share arrangements. The open aviation agreement will enable both Chinese and Australian airlines to operate more direct flights between the two countries, thereby facilitating the overseas travel of Chinese tourists to Australia.9
4.1.3 Marketing
Under the guidance and scope of the global consumer marketing campaigns, Tourism Australia has organized a variety of themed events and carried out multi-channel integrated marketing in combination with innovative digital marketing tools, to promote and propagate Australian destinations and showcase Australia’s unique tourism resources and high-quality travel experiences to the public and industry.
Destination branding
Destination branding is a long-term dynamic process. Tourism Australia has formulated phased marketing and promotion strategies for destination image, and adjusted its branding strategy and contents based on phase results and needs of target consumers. In this way, the image of Australia is gradually imprinted in the mind of Chinese tourists, while Australian diversified cultural and rich tourism resources are demonstrated from multiple fronts.
In 2004, Australian Government launched the “Australia, a different light” themed tourism campaign which was focused on evoking affection towards Australia’s people, lifestyle and destination.10 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 This marketing campaign showed the brand new image positioning of Australia as a nation, which was beyond the scope of a simple tourist destination.
9 Tourism Australia (2017), p. 4.
10 Glover, P. (2009), ‘Celebrity endorsement in tourism advertising: Effects on destination image’, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, volume 16 (1), pp.16–23. 70 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In 2008, amid the opening-up of the tourism markets of the United States of America and Taiwan Province of China and the impact of the international financial crisis on tourism consumption, Australia – the “old” outbound tourism destination – felt unprecedented pressure to consolidate and enhance the image of Australia as a preferred destination among Chinese tourists. Tourism Australia rolled out a new promotional campaign video and a series of marketing activities targeting the Chinese market. The video clip about Shanghai encapsulated China’s urban life, which brought the Chinese audience closer to Australia. The video accurately grasped and resonated with the psychological needs of tourists and thereby stimulated their consumption impulse.
In 2012, Tourism Australia unveiled the latest phase of its global marketing campaign, “There’s nothing like Australia” in Shanghai. The campaign featured a series of Australia’s most unique attractions and products along with its finest travel experiences. By targeting the emerging and growing middle class in China and promoting Australia’s world-class experience, the campaign tracked well in China. The brand campaign was carried out through multi-channels including digital, print, out-of-home, public relations, social media and Tourism Australia’s International Media Hosting Program. According to Tourism Australia’s campaign activity evaluation research, the campaign reached 89% of the target audience in target cities and 97% took action in researching or planning an Australian holiday.11
Celebrity endorsement in promoting destinations
It is a long-term marketing strategy for Tourism Australia to build friendly relations with opinion leaders and celebrities with international influence and leverage on their influence to promote Australia. In the Chinese market, Tourism Australia utilizes well-known personalities, as well as new media and digital marketing tools to reach to consumers who frequently rely on Internet and social media to formulate and customize their vocation plans.
In 2012, Tourism Australia shot its first ever tourism mini movie Heartbeat Love12 starring Show Lo and Rainie Yang. The film portrayed Australia’s cultural landscapes in a romantic and aesthetic manner and condensed the attractions and travel experiences of destinations into 50 minutes. Accompanying the movie, Tourism Australia also carried out a series of digital marketing events. Official pages were set up on Tudou, Sina Weibo and other China’s large social networking platforms to interact with audiences and engage the consumers.
Along with changes in the structure of China’s outbound tourism products, more and more Chinese tourists choose independent travels. In 2013, Tourism Australia invited Asian pop star Nicky Wu and shot the series videos “Nicky Wu’s Magic Trip in Australia”13. Broadcasted exclusively on China’s leading online video platform iQIYI, the videos recorded Nick Wu’s magic trip along the east coast of Australia as an independent traveller. The personal travel experience of stars was a good way to share Australia’s signature landscape attractions, food and wine, lifestyle, and rich outdoor activities. Meanwhile, video websites, social networking platforms and digital media channels were utilized to interact with target consumer groups in real time. Following http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
11 Australian Government and Tourism Australia (2013a), Highlights from Tourism Australia’s activity in China in 2012–13, p. 2 (online), available at: www.tourism.australia.com (15-06-2017).
12 “Heartbeat Love”, 2012, directed by Leste Chen.
13 “Australia Magical Trip”, 2013/2014, produced by Nicky Wu. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 71
the attractions and experiences presented in each episode, Aussie specialist travel agencies introduced corresponding independent travel routes and products.
Marketing through entertainment shows
In 2014, Tourism Australia launched a new round of marketing campaign focusing on the promotion of food and wine-related travel experience. Collaborating with Australian state tourism organizations, China’s influential television station Zhejiang TV and the food variety showTwelve Front Taste, Tourism Australia shot the Australian episodes of the Twelve Front Taste14, in which Asian actor Nicholas Tse became a “sweet chef”, exploring Australian cuisine and connecting with friends through food. The combination of star effect and variety show introduced Australian food, wine and scenic spots to fans of the show and consumers in the Greater China region, inspiring more consumers to visit Australia and explore local delicacies. Meanwhile, the ASP partners included the cities and attractions demonstrated in the show into their tourism routes, so that Chinese consumers could have the same Australian delicacy experience as Nicholas Tse.
In 2015, Tourism Australia, Tourism Victoria and South Australian Tourism teamed up with the production team of Running Man15, the renowned large Asian outdoor show, and shot a special episode in Australia. The experiences and challenges encountered by the stars in Australia have demonstrated to the audience the attractiveness of Australia as a top tourist destination.
Integrated digital marketing
Amid the emergence of new media, Tourism Australia has adopted a multi-channel integrated digital marketing strategy. Innovative methods and channels are utilized for branding and themed events, including shooting new promotional videos, media placement, and digital advertising. Meanwhile, Tourism Australia makes full use of its fans on social networking platforms, including Sina Weibo, WeChat and Youku. Currently, Tourism Australia communicates with close to 550,000 followers in China daily across several social media platforms including Sina Weibo, Tencent Weibo, and video sharing site Youku/Tudou.
In 2009, Tourism Australia introduced the Visiting Opinion Leaders Program (VOLP), as a way of generating word of mouth advocacy about Australia. The initiative was developed as a way of addressing the changing communications landscape and the popularity of social media by targeting digital opinion leaders who had a vast audience and an influential voice.
Digital marketing is a key component of Tourism Australia’s global marketing strategy. In August 2013, Tourism Australia launched its official Simplified Chinese websitewww.australia.cn , the first overseas independent website with server located in China. The design and functions of the website are based on in-depth research and analysis of the Chinese market and its consumer behaviours, and customized for Chinese viewers in accordance with their browsing and consumption habits. The website incorporates mainstream social media in China and original http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 travel tips. Chinese tourists may log in to the website with accounts of several social networking platforms, to collect, share and exchange information during various phases of travel. The website
14 “Twelve Front Taste”, 2014/2016, created by Nicholas Tse and produced by Zhejiang Television, Emperor Entertainment Group and Blue Sky Media.
15 “Running Man”, 2010 until now, created by Jo Hyo-jin, Kim Joo-hyung, Im Hyung-taek and produced by SBS. 72 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
also provides personal experiences, tips, recommended routes and other original contents posted by stars, celebrities, famous bloggers and media elites, so that Chinese consumers can follow their footsteps and perspectives when touring in Australia.
Media partnership in destination promotion
Tourism Australia’s International Media Hosting Program (IMHP) provides media with tailor-made opportunities to enjoy Australia’s diverse experiences and create motivating and compelling contents. A total of 132 media from China were hosted in 2012/2013, including print, TV and online. Opinion leaders and advocates were also hosted, including two TV celebrities and seven bloggers. Visits were arranged in partnership with State and Territory Tourism Organizations, as well as Wine Australia and the Great Golf Courses of Australia, with 40% of visits tapping into signature Australian festivals and events. In total, IMHP activities from China generated more than 100 stories, reaching more than 225 million consumers and achieving an equivalent advertising value of more than AUD 22 million (USD 15.7 million).16
4.1.4 Technological developments
When it comes to destination promotion and product marketing, Tourism Australia has made full use of the latest Internet, social networking, and virtual reality technologies, and has built effective channels for communicating and publicizing destination information. The extensive social interactions have enhanced Chinese tourists’ awareness of and interest in tourist destinations. Tourism Australia’ official Chinese website combines display, search, planning and sharing functions, and provides a full range of information related to tourist destinations. With creative responsive web design, contents of the website are automatically adjusted to the best reading mode for different display terminals, so that users may access the website through a variety of smart phones and tablets without any barriers and therefore enjoy the optimal sensual and user experience. The back end of the website is seamlessly interconnected with the Australian tourism data information system. Coupled with the search function, users can capture all Australian tourist attractions and products at a single website.
Relying on the pioneering virtual reality and 360° panoramic experience technologies, the “Aquatic and Coastal” theme activity organized by Tourism Australia offers lifelike top aquatic and coastal travel experience to Chinese consumers. Moreover, Tourism Australia teamed up with China’s technology vendor Baofeng to provide consumers with virtual reality devices for demonstrating the aquatic and coastal attractions of Australia. During China’s Spring Festival of 2016, Tourism Australia launched the “GIGASELFIE” event. Canon Australia sponsored the proprietary technologies for the event. During the Spring Festival, Chinese tourists visiting Sydney were encouraged to take selfies with the world-famous Sydney Harbor and Sydney Opera House in the background. All these selfies were then presented in a short video, first the close-up selfies and then the zoomed-out photos that incorporated the magnificent ambient environment of the http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 harbor, including the signature Sydney Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Tourists could also share selfies on social media. Such an innovative way provided a perfect platform for Chinese tourists to share their experience of celebrating Spring Festival in Australia on social media.
16 Australian Government and Tourism Australia (2013a), p. 3. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 73
4.1.5 Key solutions
Since joining the ADS scheme in 1999, Australia has become a major destination for Chinese tourists for nearly twenty years. As a mature destination, Australia attracts more and more Chinese visitors, especially high-spending consumers, who have contributed huge amounts of tourism revenues to the country. These achievements are inseparable from the following key marketing approaches taken by Tourism Australia: –– By studying the Chinese market and consumer groups, Tourism Australia actively grasps opportunities to expand shares in China, strategically taps into tier 2 regions, and makes full use of social media for marketing with a clear focus on mid- to high-end consumers, independent travellers, and other target consumer groups; –– Australia has defined a clear and distinct positioning. Concentrating on global branding, Tourism Australia organizes corresponding themed activities each year in China, to constantly strengthen the image of Australia; –– Tourism Australia has adopted an integrated marketing strategy combining multiple channels in the Chinese market, such as shooting new promo videos and micro films, media placement and digital advertising. In the face of new media, Tourism Australia fully utilizes digital marketing channels and major social media platforms to promote Australian destinations and enhance interaction with potential consumers; and –– The distribution network that has been established in China has been essential in increasing Chinese arrivals to Australia. Tourism Australia attaches great importance to relations with Chinese tour operators and develops special training programmes and plans to enhance the training for practitioners of tour operators. In addition, Tourism Australia optimizes the distribution network and expands distribution channels by cooperating with online travel agencies (OTAs), to meet the personalized needs of China’s independent travellers.
4.2 Indonesia
The Indonesian Government greatly values the importance of tourism in accelerating economic development. With the deepened cultural exchanges between Indonesia and China, the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Indonesia has been on the rise. According to UNWTO, a total of 1.26 million travellers from Mainland China visited Indonesia in 2015, an increase of 12.11% over the previous year.17 As such, Indonesia launched a series of branding campaigns and cooperative initiatives, to enhance its visibility among Chinese tourists and achieve desired marketing effects.
4.2.1 Policies and planning
Building brand image
The Indonesia Government inaugurated a series of tourism promotional campaigns since 1990. In http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 1991, the first instalment of the “Visit Indonesia Year” branding – “Visit Indonesia Year 1991” – was launched. In 2008, “Visit Indonesia Year 2008” introduced the concept of “unity in diversity”. The “Visit Indonesia Year” campaign persisted until the year 2010, and was replaced by the “Wonderful Indonesia” campaign in 2011.
17 World Tourism Organization (2017b), Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Data 2011 – 2015, 2017 Edition, UNWTO, Madrid, p. 371. 74 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In order to promote Indonesia’s tourism industry more effectively, increase its presence in the global market and achieve the goals of the 2011–2025 Tourism Strategic Plan, Tourism Indonesia unveiled the “Wonderful Indonesia” campaign. The new branding campaign aims for the long-term development of Indonesia’s tourism industry. Its short-term goal is to receive 20 million foreign visitors by the year 2019.
“Wonderful Indonesia” marks a major strategic change of Indonesia’s tourism industry. It highlights Indonesia’s “wonderful” nature, cultures, people, food and an affordable destination. Tourism Indonesia has organized a series of promotional activities in China to advertise “Wonderful Indonesia” and demonstrate the charm and diversity of Indonesia to Chinese visitors.18
Visa-free policy
Indonesia started to implement the unilateral visa-free policy for visitors from dozens of countries and regions including China from 10 June 2015. The Indonesian Government has opened visa- free entry points at five airports and nine ports. Chinese tourists are permitted to stay in the country for 30 days with a PRC passport. The visa-free policy has greatly ignited the enthusiasm of Chinese tourists to visit Indonesia.
4.2.2 Product development
Launching feature routes: “The Cheng Ho Sea Route”
In February 2015, Tourism Indonesia inaugurated “The Cheng Ho Sea Route” tour programme. Zheng He is a renowned general, diplomat and mariner in China’s Ming Dynasty. He commanded seven expeditionary voyages to the south of China from 1405 to 1433, bringing China’s technologies, culture and lifestyles to Indonesia. During this process, he left a great number of historical relics in Indonesia. Visitors can take a replica of the ship used by Cheng Ho to follow his footsteps and visit Indonesia cities and places he had exploited during his voyage. The tour covers nine cities visited by Cheng Ho including Jakarta and Bali Island. Tourism Indonesia has specifically restored the cultural relics, religious sites and folk customs left by Cheng Ho, to attract more Chinese visitors. This tour not only echoes with China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, but also promotes the cultural exchanges between the two countries. Tourism Indonesia intends to work with Viet Nam, Malaysia and other countries that Cheng Ho visited and extend the tour to the entire ASEAN region in 2017.
Vigorously developing more tourist attractions
Currently, the overall awareness of Indonesian tourism destinations among Chinese tourists is low. Most Chinese visitors would choose Bali as their destination when travelling to Indonesia. In 2016, Tourism Indonesia invested tremendous efforts in developing ten featured tourist attractions http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 including Lake Toba, Mountain Bromo and Borobudur Temple, and strongly recommended new destinations such as Java, Medan, Bandung and Jogyakarta to Chinese visitors. Indonesia improves supporting facilities of scenic spots such as railroads, aircraft access, water and
18 Sutedjo, J. (2017), ‘Analysis on national brand strategy of tourism in Indonesia’, Journal of Shenyang University of Technology, volume 10 (2), pp. 139–146. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 75
electricity facilities through government and foreign investments, as a way of attracting visitors. Meanwhile, Tourism Indonesia strives to enhance the overall visibility of Indonesia as a way of attracting more Chinese tourists.
Promoting diving tourism products
Indonesia’s fabulous underwater beauty has been attracting divers and snorkeling enthusiasts from all over the world. In China, the number of diving tourists is still small, so there is ample room for growth. Accordingly, diving tourism is one of the themed tourism products greatly promoted by Tourism Indonesia in China. In October 2016, Tourism Indonesia teaming up with Divingtrip organized three promotional activities for sharing diving experience, providing diving information and tips in Beijing, Qingdao and Dalian. Managers of diving clubs, as well as diving practitioners, instructors, senior divers and travel agencies were invited. As coastal cities, Qingdao and Dalian boast natural conditions, so residents are more likely to be interested in diving. Moreover, Beijing is a metropolitan with a huge number of residents, so the population of potential diving tourism lovers is also relatively large. Tourism Indonesia shared the wonderful highlights of diving in Indonesia with the participants.
The annually organized “Deep and Extreme Indonesia 2017” is in its eleventh year since 2006. It is the grandest diving and extreme sports exhibition in Indonesia that combines diving, adventure tourism and water sports, and is one of the largest diving and outdoor activities in Asia. Chinese exhibitors may directly communicate and exchange with Tourism Indonesia officials, and hence learn more about the travel and diving resources of Indonesia. The event provides a platform for the cooperation between Chinese diving service providers and relevant Indonesian enterprises.
4.2.3 Marketing
“Wonderful Indonesia” promotional activity
Tourism Indonesia has organized several promotional activities for the “Wonderful Indonesia” campaign, to provide support for tourism marketing and establish the “Wonderful Indonesia” brand. The tourism administrations of various provinces, hotels, resorts and other tourism-related service providers attended these activities, introducing the traditional Indonesian culture to Chinese consumers in a B2C (business-to-consumer) manner, sharing the latest tourism information and products to Chinese distributors, and strengthening cooperation with Chinese enterprises. For example, focusing on “Wonderful Indonesia”, Tourism Indonesia held several traditional culture exhibitions and performances where Chinese visitors could have a taste of both authentic coffee and Indonesian lifestyle. There was a quiz session and those getting the answers right were given a beautiful gift. Meanwhile, visitors were also provided with detailed information and guidance for travelling to Indonesia. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 “Finding Indonesia Tourism Ambassador”
Tourism Indonesia also values interaction with Chinese consumers both online and offline. At the Shanghai Book Fair 2015, the Vice Minister of Tourism Indonesia attended the signing of the new book Discover Indonesia in Indonesia written by the first CCTV journalist Dou Yunyun in Indonesia. The author records her five years’ experience in Indonesia in combination with news events and 76 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
describes the customs and culture of 15 main Indonesian cities from a perspective of a professional journalist. The book showcases Indonesia in a three-dimensional, rich and comprehensive manner. In line with the publishing of the book and the promotion of Indonesia tourism, Tourism Indonesia, in collaboration with local travel agencies, organized the “Finding Indonesian Tourism Ambassador” campaign. Leveraging on Weibo, the activity was built around recruiting three travel ambassadors with the chance to visit Indonesia together with the author of the book and enjoy premium customized services, as well as discounted or exempted hotel charges and other costs. The activity was highly sought after by Chinese consumers and generated a great buzz.
Cooperating with Chinese Internet companies
As noted earlier, the millennial generation of Chinese tourists tend to travel independently. They are accustomed to searching for travel information online and then making choices thereupon. In view of this, Tourism Indonesia established a strategic partnership with Baidu that has a huge user base and information promotion capacities. Under the help of its strategic partner, Tourism Indonesia hopes to increase the visibility of Indonesian tourism in the Chinese market as soon as possible so that more Chinese tourists would travel to Indonesia. The two parties carried out a series of marketing events in joint efforts and promoted “Wonderful Indonesia” both online and offline. Based on the big data provided by Baidu, Tourism Indonesia could understand the behaviour and habits of Chinese visitors and consequently introduce targeted travel products.
Innovating ways of cooperating with distribution channels
In 2016, Tourism Indonesia signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with Ctrip and Singapore Changi Airport, to bring richer and more comprehensive tourism resources of Indonesia to Chinese visitors through joint marketing efforts. Under the cooperation agreement, the online travel agency would leverage on its user traffic, big data, product and market advantages, and brand influence and recommend the four emerging tourist destinations of Indonesia to Chinese consumers, i.e. Bintan Island, Lombok, Jogyakarta and Surabaya. To fully demonstrate the tourism resources of these four destinations, new products and routes were launched, such that tourists may well experience their distinctive island landscapes, unique cultures, mysterious religious rituals and various local delicacies. Meanwhile, by taking advantage of the strategic position and operation capacities of Singapore Changi Airport, Tourism Indonesia strived to provide Chinese tourists with optimized air connection services to these four destinations. The shopping, catering and leisure facilities, as well as quality services of Changi Airport were also branded as a highlight for the travel to the above destinations. All these efforts were intended to provide Chinese tourists with optimal travel routes and products.
4.2.4 Travel facilitation
Garuda Indonesia adjusts air services to meet the needs of Chinese tourists http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
Garuda Indonesia, the national carrier, endeavours to display the core of Indonesian culture in every respect and detail. The quintessence of Indonesia Batik design elements are extensively employed in its airplanes, from exterior colour to interior decoration and design, as a way of enhancing the recognition and brand awareness of Indonesia. In the face of a growing number of Chinese tourists, Garuda has adjusted air services between China and Indonesia, to greatly facilitate Chinese tourists. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 77
First, Garuda Indonesia changed the frequency and airplane types for flights between Beijing and Jakarta/Bali, to improve air capacity and passenger comfort and hence meet the increasingly strong market demands. Second, Garuda opened a new route between Chengdu and Bali, which runs once a week. It plans to add direct flights from Hangzhou to Indonesia in 2019.
Increasing the number of Chinese tour guides
In 2015, there were only 1,300 licensed Chinese tour guides in Indonesia which proved to be too few to cope with the fast growing number of Chinese tourists. The lack of Chinese tour guides at tourist attractions has hindered the tourism cooperation between Indonesia and China, as well as the development of Indonesia’s tourism. As such, Indonesia aims to increase the number of Chinese-speaking guides, to meet the growing needs of Chinese tourists. On 28 April 2016, Tourism Indonesia cemented a partnership agreement with Sekolah Tinggi Bahasa Asing Persahabatan Internasional Asia (STBA-PIA)19, a foreign language college in west Indonesia, to train Mandarin talents for Indonesia, especially for Sumatra Utara. STBA-PIA will train tour guides in accordance with a series of requirements formulated by Tourism Indonesia that will increase the number of Chinese-speaking guides, to satisfy the demands of Chinese tourists.
4.2.5 Key solutions
–– The Indonesian Government has carried out a series of promotional activities revolving around the “Wonderful Indonesia” brand image, to enhance its visibility among Chinese tourists. At the same time, the Government implements a visa-free policy for Chinese tourists, which greatly facilitates tourists and is an incentive for them to visit Indonesia; –– The Government’s visa-free policy for Chinese tourists has greatly facilitated the increase of Chinese tourists to Indonesia; –– To enrich the variety of Indonesian tourism products the Government has put emphasis on the creation of new routes. One example is the Zheng He cultural tourism route specially designed for Chinese tourists by combining Zheng He’s expeditionary voyages and Indonesia’s local cultural resources. At the same time, the Government has been focusing on the exploitation of emerging attractions in recent years, to elevate the overall visibility of Indonesia tourism and appeal to more Chinese visitors; and –– Tourism Indonesia actively carries out promotional activities in China and cooperates with Baidu to understand the behaviour and habits of Chinese tourists via big data so as to launch targeted marketing activities. The online and offline interactive activities on China’s social media platforms have effectively communicated the brand image of travel in Indonesia.
4.3 Japan
Japan was granted ADS in 2000 and has become after more than a decade’s development one of http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 the most important destinations for the outbound travel of Chinese citizens. In order to accelerate its inbound tourism market, the Japanese Government proposed the “Nation-building upon Tourism Strategy” in 2003, positioning tourism as an important means to stimulate economic
19 For more information please visit: https://stbapia.ac.id/. 78 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
development, wherein, the Northeast Asian markets including China are the primary targets of Japan. For the Chinese tourism market, Japan has carried out a series of marketing activities on the basis of its rich and featured tourism products, with remarkable results. In 2015, there were 4.99 million Chinese arrivals, accounting for one-fourth in the total number of inbound tourists. Hence, China surpassed the Republic of Korea (4 million) and became Japan’s largest source market of international tourist arrivals.20
4.3.1 Policies and planning
Nation-building upon tourism strategy
In order to increase the number of visitors to Japan, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan introduced the “Visit Japan Campaign” (VJC). In 2006, Japan promulgated the Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Law and launched the Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan, to boost the development of inbound tourism. The VJC focused on north-eastern markets including China, especially the top countries that contributed most inbound visitors such as Mainland China, Taiwan Province of China and the Republic of Korea.
The Japanese Government formulated and implemented a series of promotional plans. Following the tsunami earthquake in 2011, the Government defined the Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan in 2012, proposing to recover from the disaster and setting the new target of regaining and strengthening the confidence of the Japanese brand. According to the Plan, the Japanese Government aimed at joining forces with the local governments and tourism industry to enhance promotion in China. Objectives of the Plan included significantly increasing the number of Chinese tourists who would visit Japan and increasing the number of Chinese arrivals to 1.8 million in 2012. In March 2017, the Government stipulated in the latest Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Plan, proposals to construct Integrated Resorts that encompass gambling, hotels, and shopping centers.
Visa policies
As a close neighbour of Japan, China is an important target of Japan’s Nation-building upon Tourism Strategy. Japan has relaxed the visa policy for Chinese visitors to facilitate the implementation of the Strategy and VJC campaign. Japan was granted the ADS in 2000. Back then, Japan only issued visas to Chinese nationals residing in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong. In 2004, the group tourist visa was extended to those residing in Tianjin, Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which was further expanded to entire China in July 2005. In July 2009, tourist visa for independent travellers were introduced in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Meanwhile, multiple-entry tourist visas to Okinawa were permitted to independent Chinese travellers in July 2011.
In January 2015, Japan further relaxed the visa polices for individual travellers by extending http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 the validity period of the multiple-entry visa from three months to five months and removing the restriction on the location of first arrival. In January 2016, Japan loosened background check on applicants: Chinese nationals with an annual income of USD 37,650 were entitled to a multiple-
20 World Tourism Organization (2017b), p. 412. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 79
entry visa with a validity period of three years if the first point of arrival was within the four specified prefectures; those with an annual income of less than USD 37,650 but having visited Japan in the past three years could also be granted the multiple-entry visa; those with an annual income of more than USD 37,650 were to be granted with the five-year multiple-entry visa even if the visited area did not fall within the scope of the four specified prefectures. In October 2016, the Japanese Government extended the multiple-entry visa for China’s business, cultural and artistic visits from five to ten years, and simplified the procedures of single-entry visas for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying in 75 colleges and universities directly under the Ministry of Education. It also relaxed entry for undergraduates.
From permitting visas for group tours only to extending visa facilities for independent travellers, from relaxing policies for the affluent class only to targeting at the wider middle class, the visa deregulation of Japan has facilitated the travel of more Chinese visitors and become an effective means to attract Chinese tourists.
Tax-free shopping policy
The Japanese Government has promulgated several policies to stimulate shopping by Chinese visitors in Japan in which the tax-free shopping policy is of special attraction to Chinese tourists who prefer shopping. From October 2014, the Japanese Government introduced the new tax-free policy and incorporated consumables into the scope of tax-free goods. That is to say, in addition to the original electrical appliances, decorations, clothes, shoes, bags and other duty-free items, the purchase of food, beverages, cosmetics and pharmaceutical drugs with a value of over JPY 5000 (USD 48) also enjoyed the tax-free policy. All goods sold in stores with the tax-free signage were exempted of sales tax. This policy has greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of Chinese visitors and hence significantly boosted Japan’s tourism.
4.3.2 Product development
Developing diversified tourism products in joint efforts with the industry
In the highly competitive outbound tourism market, how to develop diversified and personalized products is a major issue to penetrate the Chinese market. JNTO pays special attention to the diversified needs of Chinese tourists in tourism product development, and works with Chinese counterparts to constantly research consumption behaviour, concepts and personalized demands of Chinese visitors, to launch targeted tourism products.
In March 2016, Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and the Chinese online travel agency (OTA) Qyer, tailor-made a Sakura (cherry blossom) route for Chinese visitors. Based on the data of the OTA, JNTO discovered that independent Chinese travellers would like to avoid the crowds, shorten transportation time and focus on in-depth cultural attractions when planning their Sakura http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 tours. Therefore, in the selection of specific attractions, the Sakura route introduced by JNTO avoids highly visited cities of Tokyo and Osaka and chooses less popular but unique places such as the southern island of Kyushu. Meanwhile, the route also incorporates Kumamoto Prefecture since the mascot Kumamon is extremely popular in China. Additionally food and hot springs are also considered as indispensable. This Sakura route provides a good reference for Chinese travellers and meets their personalized tourism needs. 80 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
The outbound travel trend report of Chinese visitors released by JNTO in June 2016 shows that Chinese tourists who pay increasing attention to the quality of travel are quite interested in experiencing featured local culture and lifestyle. As a result, in joint efforts with Qyer, JNTO developed City Walk, a one-day tour product around classic attractions of cities in small groups. Specially designed for self-service travellers, City Walk incorporates a number of interesting experience activities, to encourage Chinese visitors to immerse in featured local culture and enjoy the charm of the city. City Walk can meet the needs of independent Chinese tourists for an in- depth taste of Japan.
Breaking down the market and building differentiated tourism products
As more Chinese tourists like to enjoy experiences rather than solely concentrate on shopping during their vacations, the traditional hurried sightseeing tourism products can no longer satisfy the needs of most tourists. Tourists who visit Japan more than once and young independent travellers usually prefer to try new tourist routes. Regarding this, the Japanese Government builds a number of featured products for different Chinese consumer groups, to enrich the existing tourism products. In October 2016, the Government of Shizuoka Prefecture signed a memorandum of cooperation with China’s leading outbound tour operator CAISSA International Travel Service. In accordance with the memorandum, the two parties will jointly develop deep outdoor travel and other high-end tourism products in the next five years. CAISSA and Shizuoka Prefecture will tap their respective advantages and increase efforts in the research and development of new products such as hiking and marathons. Meanwhile, private tour products will be created for high-end consumer groups, to differentiate and personalize the Japan travel experience.
With the rise of medical tourism in recent years, the Japanese Government, private enterprises and travel agencies have joined forces to boost this sector in Japan. In 2016, the Japanese Government and travel sectors teamed up and launched a customized tourism product combining physical check-up and sightseeing for the affluent class in China. The high-end medical product, called “PET Check-up Tour”, is highly welcomed by Chinese tourists. They can enjoy sightseeing along Japan’s popular routes, stay at five-star hotels, dine at Michelin-starred restaurants, and receive medical examinations at the same time.
4.3.3 Marketing
Festival marketing
As one aspect of cultural tourism, festival tourism plays a positive role in accelerating the tourism economy of a locality. It is an effective means to explore the history and culture and build the tourism characteristics of a locality, and is also conducive to realize differentiated tourism development. Japan boasts many folk festivals, and each festival shows strong local character. In spring, there is the Sakura festival, in autumn the red leaves festival, and in winter the ski festival. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 In addition, there are two shopping festivals every year and animation festivals, shrine festivals and other festivals held from time to time.
For example, the Japan Shopping Festival (JSF), a shopping spree for foreign tourists, is generally held twice a year from July to August and from December to February. Regarded as trendsetter for Asia and the world, Japanese clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, cosmetics and other products are Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 81
favoured by Chinese tourists. Meanwhile, due to good quality, practicality and friendly designs, the home appliances, food, daily necessities and other “Made in Japan” products are highly sought after by Chinese visitors. Shopping accounts for a large proportion of Chinese tourists’ consumption in Japan.
The Japan Shopping Tourism Organization (JSTO) organizes Japan Shopping Festival every year and sets up different themes to attract particulary Chinese tourists. The theme of 2016 was “Night Shopping” while that for 2017 was to demonstrate the charm of Japan to the entire world through shopping. To tie in with the promotion of the Festival, the JNTO official website contains links to shopping information and duty-free shops. Visitors can also download the official application of the Festival – “Japan Shopping App” to access the first-hand discount information of more than 2,000 duty-free stores in real time. Moreover, JSTO also sets up information stations at landmark attractions in Tokyo and other places during the JSF, to give tourism and shopping advice to tourists free of charge. JSF official website also launches lucky draw, shopping photography contest and other activities and offers winners exquisite prizes, as a way of attracting Chinese consumers.
Digital marketing
JNTO developed official Chinese website to facilitate Chinese tourists. The website provides latest news on travel in Japan for tourists, tourism industry and media through sections such as “Itineraries”, “Plan Your Trip” and “Japan in-Depth”. In addition, a special shopping website has also been launched to introduce the promotion and discount information of major shopping malls in Japan. The website also contains a section for the JSF each year, through which consumers can learn about promotional activities in advance and download electronic coupons and discounts online. The shopping website also posts experience of shopping in Japan, tax exemption procedures, currency information and other relevant shopping tips for the reference of tourists prior to their arrival. Moreover, the Japanese Government also launched an official website for “Japan Endless Discovery”. The website describes Japanese food, hot springs, shopping, and attraction information in detail, recommends Sakura routes and independent travel routes, and shares travel tips.
In terms of digital marketing, the Japanese Government has utilized social media advantageously. JNTO is one of the first foreign tourism administrations that opened Weibo and WeChat accounts in China. Currently, Japan owns three Sina Weibo accounts: the official account of JNTO Beijing, that of JNTO Shanghai, and that of Japan Endless Discovery. The WeChat public account was opened in 2016. The Japanese Government’s social media promotion is mainly represented in the following aspects:
Promotional videos
Videos relevant to Japanese tourism are broadcasted on China’s influential video websites such http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 as iQIYI, Tudou and Youku. For example, a 19-episode video called Travel in Japan was played on iQIYI and viewed 3.8 million times.21The Chinese website of JNTO also rolled out the “Visit Japan TV” activity where travel professionals posted videos of their trips so that Chinese citizens could
21 For more information see: www.iqiyi.com/a_19rrk8pyk5.html. 82 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
learn about the most authentic travel experience.22 JNTO also works with some Chinese video websites and magazines to produce tourism variety shows and publicize them on its Chinese website.
Live streaming
Live streaming can be termed as the hottest way of social media communication in China. JNTO live broadcasted several programmes associated with travel in Japan on its Weibo accounts. For example, JNTO invited some travel professionals to live stream their tour of a famous costume drama-shooting site in February 2016. The show was viewed 130,000 times on Sina Weibo. In addition, JNTO also live streamed the Tokyo Marathon and tour of Mount Fuji on Sina Weibo, with tens of thousands of hits.
Leveraging on celebrity influence and popular films and TV dramas
China’s famous film and television stars Hu Ge and Wallace Huo shot cover photos for a Chinese magazine in Hokkaido in the winter of 2016. These photos were shared on social networking websites, attracted the attention of many fans and were viewed ten million times. The shooting place Hokkaido also caught the eye of Chinese tourists. Articles about travel in Hokkaido were posted on social media websites, stimulating the enthusiasm of many Chinese people. In 2017, the Japanese animation film Your Name was aired in China, with good box office and audience reputation. Chinese audiences were tempted by the aesthetic sceneries in the film. Accordingly, JNTO pushed videos of the sites in the film in Weibo, with over 100,000 hits.
4.3.4 Travel facilitation
Improving shopping environment
The Japanese Government has significantly improved the shopping environment for Chinese tourists. The UnionPay card system has been installed at ATM machines with Bank of Tokyo, allowing Chinese visitors to use their UnionPay cards to withdraw money. Local governments also introduce various subsidy policies to encourage stores to install the UnionPay card system. For commercial districts frequently patronized by Chinese customers, efforts have been made to improve the Chinese shopping environment, such as hiring Chinese shopping guides or giving Chinese language training to shop assistants. Some large shopping malls broadcast the merchandise information in Chinese, and Chinese characters may be seen on the windows of restaurants even in remote towns of Hokkaido.
Developing an application for visitors
In order to expand the number of visitors to Japan, JNTO, in joint forces with the Ministry of http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Economy, Trade and Industry, has unveiled a new mechanism: tourists can access commodity and travel information in their mother tongue after registering personal information at the airport. The new mechanism requires visitors to register their basic information such as name, age and gender; afterwards, the visitor is given a special ID and can download an application that is connected to
22 For more information see: www.welcome2japan.cn/vj/movie/. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 83
their credit card and can be used to make payments at tourist destinations. Moreover, the goods purchased by the tourist can be delivered to their hotel based on the registration information. The Japanese Government plans to enforce this mechanism prior to 2020 in a hope to attract more visitors to Japan.
Free Wi-Fi at tourist attractions
For the convenience of foreign tourists, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications plans to gradually realize free Wi-Fi coverage in all tourist attractions of the country starting from 2015. With Wi-Fi, tourists may easily send photos and check travel information online. Chinese visitors have to pay high international roaming costs when travelling abroad, so such an initiative will relieve their burdens. The initiative will cover around 5,000 tourist attractions including castles and museums. The Japanese Government has decided to provide funding for local governments to improve relevant facilities and plans to gradually introduce the wireless network service prior to 2020.
4.3.5 Technological developments
Fingerprint payment to improve tourism experience
The Japanese Government began to test the fingerprint payment system since the summer of 2016. As long as tourists enter their fingerprint, credit card and other key information at designated locations, they can use fingerprint for payment instead of swiping the card. As a result, all payments in Japan can be settled through mobile payment, thereby greatly facilitating the shopping process of foreign tourists. Such a payment system is also safer compared with the use of credit card or cash. Moreover, instead of showing passport, tourists may also use their fingerprint to check in at hotels. This not only saves the trouble of fumbling about for the passport, but also better protects personal privacy information. The Japanese Government intends to popularize the fingerprint payment system nationwide by the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020. The popularity of the fingerprint system will facilitate Japan’s management of tourists while offering convenience to visitors at the same time.
Robot services
Japan boasts of top-notch robotics technologies in the world, which has been fully applied in hotels, airports and other tourism services. For example, EMIEW, a humanoid robot developed by Hitachi, was put into use at Tokyo Haneda Airport in September 2016. EMIEW can help passengers to quickly find their gates and other important locations.
Robot services are also applied in the hotel industry. A hotel called Henn-na Hotel using robot waiters was opened for business in Nagasaki in July 2015. Front desk reception, luggage delivery, http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 guest guidance and other tasks are all completed by robots. Guests no longer need a key to open hotel rooms, but can rely on the facial recognition terminals installed at the front of the room. The two emerging technologies of robotics and artificial intelligence have gone beyond their original science and technology fields and penetrated the tourism industry in Japan. The innovative products are not for admiration only, but have become a key part for the experience of travel in Japan. 84 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
4.3.6 Key solutions
Thanks to the series of targeted marketing activities organized by JNTO in the Chinese market, Japan has always been a popular short-distance destination among Chinese visitors. Specifically, Japan has made the following commitments in the Chinese market in the field of tourism: –– The Japanese Government has developed a series of promotional plans geared to the Chinese market. These targeted plans have played a guiding role for the Japanese Government to carry out marketing activities in China; –– Japan has relaxed the visa policies for Chinese tourists several times, extended the validity period of multiple-entry visa and loosened requirements on incomes. Relaxation in visa requirements has made it possible for more Chinese citizens to visit Japan and hence serve as an effective measure for the Japanese Government to attract Chinese tourists; –– Through cooperation with Chinese tourism enterprises, JNTO continues to develop tourism products that target different source markets and meet the differentiated demands of consumers; –– In terms of marketing, JNTO strengthens ties with Chinese tourists and tourism enterprises via festival marketing and digital marketing, which has successfully attracted many tourists; and –– The Japanese Government is also improving the shopping environment. Examples include developing a dedicated mobile application for tourists and offering free Wi-Fi.
4.4 Republic of Korea
The Republic of Korea was granted the ADS status in 1998. In recent years, the Republic of Korea has become one of the most popular outbound destinations of Chinese visitors, attracting more and more Chinese tourists for shopping and sightseeing. According to the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) official statistics, the Republic of Korea received a total of 17.2 million inbound tourists from January to December of 2016, among whom 8.1 million (47%) were Chinese nationals. The number of Chinese arrivals almost doubled in just three years, jumping from 4.3 million in 2013 to 8.1 million in 2016.23
One reason why the Republic of Korea has become a popular destination for Chinese tourists is its geographical advantages. As a close neighbour of China, the Republic of Korea is only two hours flight away. The other reason is the export and dissemination of its pop culture industry. The Korean Wave has generated tremendous influence in the world, particularly in Asia and added to the attractiveness of its national image. The Republic of Korea has carried out a series of promotional campaigns geared to its pop culture and has customized visa policies, feature products and facilitation services for the Chinese market. Many of its moves have reference values for other countries. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
23 Korea Tourism Organization (n.d), Visitor Arrivals, Korean Departures, Int’l Tourism Receipts & Expenditure (online), available at: https://kto.visitkorea.or.kr (15-06-2017). Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 85
4.4.1 Policies and planning
Government-led tourism development
The Government of the Republic of Korea positions tourism as a national strategic industry and implements a government-led development strategy. The country has formulated sound tourism laws and regulates tourism agencies competently to assure the healthy and stable development of tourism. The overall tourism layout and phased implementation programmes are formulated based on the Government’s direct control.
The Government has constantly improved basic and supporting services and facilities, and attempts to create a conducive atmosphere for tourism. Various facilitation services are offered to tourists, to meet their personalized needs. Signage at airports, bus stations, bathrooms, telephone booths and other public places are in multiple languages, while maps, travel guides, travel service manuals and other materials are readily available at news stalls and restaurants. Moreover, the tourism bureau provides free service hotlines that offer travel advisory services to foreign tourists in multiple languages 24/7.
In 2013, the Government of the Republic of Korea launched the tourism promotion implementation programme to attract foreign tourists, especially Chinese tourists. Main contents of the programme include: rebating the hotel additional tax of foreign tourists, allowing the establishment of exclusive casinos for foreign tourists on cruises, abating or exempting the income tax associated with the property development of resorts and hotels, etc. Other policies dedicated to Chinese tourists include granting of multiple-entry visas for students graduating from renowned Chinese universities and Chinese nationals residing in Beijing and Shanghai, recruiting more Chinese tour guides, and closing souvenir shops for foreign tourists to eliminate unreasonable budget tours. In addition, given that the number of investment and medical tourists has been on the increase in recent years, the country’s Government also introduces development plans for investment in medical tourism, hoping to attract more Chinese visitors.
Exploiting Chinese market by geographic region
The Korea Tourism Organization attaches great importance to China’s outbound tourism market and has set up offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Chengdu and Xi’an, covering major sources of tourist arrivals in China. Each office carries out marketing and promotion activities to attract Chinese tourists, works with local travel agencies to develop and promote tourism products catering to the needs of local travellers and aids local travel trade on travel product promotion. Such a strategy enables KTO to explore China’s outbound market in depth and monitor the tourism needs and changes of regional markets. As a result, the Republic of Korea can better grasp the marketing milestones, adjust product and marketing strategies and undertake targeted promotional activities. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Visa policies
Leveraging the Korean Wave in developing products and routes themed on its pop culture on the one hand, and dynamically adjusting visa policies to increase tourism facilitation for Chinese tourists on the other, the Republic of Korea has further strengthened its market penetration of Chinese visitors. The conditions of applying for multiple-entry visas were loosened in the 86 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
beginning of 2016. The original “10 year multiple-entry visa” was reserved for lawyers, university professors and other specialized professions or those with a master’s degree or above. A special visa has been instituted to those coming to the Republic of Korea for watching Korean pop culture performances, and group visas were exempted of application fees within a specific period to encourage more tour groups. The enforcement of the visa-on-arrival policy for Jeju Island has significantly fuelled local tourism.
4.4.2 Product development
Product development driven by the Korean Wave
KTO together with tourism services suppliers have developed several tourism products and routes associated with Korean popular films and soap operas. For example, travel routes are formulated by sorting out the scenes in films and soap operas and restoring features of relevant plots, and then traditional cultural elements, featured buildings and landscapes, food, clothes and other elements are combined to attract customers who like Korean pop stars and soap operas. Korean dramas have become a major selling point among Chinese tourists. Many tourism products launched by travel agencies have incorporated scenes in soaps into their itineraries. At the same time, independent travellers can also easily go to the Republic of Korea to meet their idols and experience Korean culture. Many scenes of Korean films and soaps are scattered in or around Seoul. Tourists can choose activities of their liking, such as shopping, having a cup of coffee at a café, walking around places that were visited by characters in the film and soap opera, or immersing themselves in the Korean way of life.
Themed tourism products
KTO has recognized that Chinese tourists are more interested in sightseeing and travelling independently and has developed themed tourism products to meet the demands of Chinese visitors. These products aim to create a diversified and quality tourism experience and provide an in-depth understanding and experience of the locality, attract people to visit the country again, and cover wider consumer groups and consumption levels. The themed travel products recommended by KTO not only embellish and showcase traditional Korean culture, but also well integrate the latest and most fashionable elements, to satisfy the needs of different consumer groups. Under the theme of “Nightlife in Korea”, KTO recommended several tour courses such as “Seoul Night Tour”, “Moonlight Tour at Changdeokgung Palace”, “Exclusive Lighting Festivals near Seoul” etc. Considering the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, KTO designed ten tour courses under the “Ski & Snow” theme to offer different kinds of fun and excitement to travellers, including two-day tour of Olympic venue and hinterlands, coffee-scented coastal trails, exploring nature, old roads that used to transport coal, popular dishes along scenic mountains and rivers etc. Other themed travel products include medical tourism, city tours, “Beauty and Wellness Tours”, “Subway Tours”, “Cultural Experience Tour”, “Eco Tours” etc. These themed travel programmes http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 have enriched the tourism of the Republic of Korea and enhanced the attractiveness of the country as a destination for Chinese tourists. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 87
4.4.3 Marketing
KTO promotes destination images by leveraging on the influence and spread of pop culture and carries out a variety of branding and cultural activities by increasing advertising efforts. These destination marketing activities are intended to improve the visibility of the country’s tourism.
Marketing through pop culture
The Republic of Korea has created a new tourism marketing model based on the film and television industry. Tourist destinations, as well as relevant products are marketed by relying on the global influence of upstream films, soap operas, pop music, games and other entertainment products that are represented in methods loved by the people. The term Korean Wave covers a wide range of entertainment from music, drama, dance, film, TV dramas, games, clothes, cosmetics, food, electronics and automotives. The Korean Wave entails huge business opportunities. With the export and dissemination of Korean pop culture, popular singers, movie stars, sports stars, musicians, dancers and models, have attracted many overseas fans through social media and social networking websites.
KTO makes full use of the cultural assets to promote tourism. Plots and scenes that appeared in hit films and TV dramas are utilized to market tourist attractions, while traditional Korean culture is explored and relevant tourism products are developed based on soap operas. Korean stars are invited to endorse and promote destinations. Food, clothes, porcelain, opera and festivals with local characteristics are tapped and combined with tourism, to maximize the use of limited tourism resources. In this way, its cultural features and trendsetter role constantly draws in more and more customers to the Republic of Korea.
Internet and social media marketing
KTO has launched its official Chinese website that provides one-stop summary of information and services for Chinese visitors. The website includes practical information on travel planning, transportation, accommodation, food, shopping, discount, recommended routes, reservations, and latest activities. As more Chinese nationals choose independent travel, the demand for tourism information is on the rise. KTO opened its Sina Weibo account on 24 March 2011, introducing the latest fashion, music, popular restaurants, theme activities and other information to Chinese people in a fast and vivid manner. Weibo has become an intimate channel for Chinese visitors to feel and communicate with the destination. Afterwards, the Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang offices of KTO went live with their respective Weibo, tailor-made marketing activities for target customers.
4.4.4 Travel facilitation http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Upgrading services for Chinese tourists
KTO attracts more Chinese tourists by way of improving the tourism environment and offering more facilitation services. When the individual tour was initially approved, KTO took advantage to provide many facilitation services for Chinese visitors, such as offering travel tips and advice in Chinese, equipping Chinese tour guides in places that Chinese people liked to visit, etc. 88 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
All these make independent travel to Republic of Korea easy and convenient. With the exponential increase of Chinese arrivals in recent years, previous services are no longer able to meet the growing demand. As a result, KTO has upgraded its services so that Chinese visitors may have a new experience every time they visit the Republic of Korea. In 2014, KTO unveiled a smart phone application “Visit Korea” that provides destination tourism information in Chinese. The application is embedded with the local maps marked in Chinese, so that Chinese visitors can have a panoramic view of surrounding attractions and shopping discount information. The application is also equipped with a powerful route planning service that helps tourists to find self-driving and public transportation routes, and provides around 6000 entries of tourism information, including the favourite of Chinese tourists – shopping information. To facilitate the shopping of Chinese tourists, KTO joins forces with renowned duty-free stores, department stores and shopping malls and offers shopping coupons through the application. The application is available in App Store and Google Play and can be downloaded free of charge.
In October 2016, KTO struck a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s largest online-to- offline (O2O) platform Dianping.com. The in-depth cooperation of the two parties enables more diversified and more convenient travel services for Chinese tourists in the Republic of Korea, and realizes more targeted marketing strategies for local businesses. Together with a local magazine, KTO and Dianping.com launched the “favourite Korean restaurants by Chinese visitors” campaign. The campaign recommends the latest, hottest and most distinctive Korean restaurants to Chinese tourists by taste, service, environment and several other dimensions. Dianping regularly submits analysis reports on tourist behaviour to KTO and local businesses to capture the new hotspots of Chinese tourists and track the dynamic trends of traffic flows.
Onsite tax refund
The Republic of Korea introduced the onsite tax refund system in January 2016. Visitors who have purchased goods with a unit price of no more than KRW 200,000 (USD 165) and a total price of no more than KRW 1 million (USD 826) enjoy tax refund at the site. Lotte Department Store, Hyundai Department Store, Home Plus and other major retail enterprises have implemented the system, which has greatly facilitated the purchases by Chinese tourists. Meanwhile, to save time for tax refunds at the airport, the Republic of Korea has released other relevant policies. For example, before, it was regulated that the customs shall examine the duty-free articles when the amount of tax refund reached KRW 10,000 (USD 8.3). The amount hereof was adjusted to KRW 50,000 (USD 41) from August 2015. If the tax refund amount is less than KRW 50,000 (USD 41), visitors can get the refund directly without the need for confirmation by the customs. In addition, self- service tax refund kiosks were installed at the airport, to facilitate tax refund and to reduce waiting time.
4.4.5 Technological developments http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 The application of innovative Internet technologies in tourism has shortened the distance between tourists and destinations and provides wider channels and more effective means to promote destinations. Through cooperation with China’s Internet technology companies, KTO offers more accurate information and more convenient services for Chinese tourists. In 2016, KTO cemented a strategic memorandum of cooperation with the world’s largest Chinese search engine Baidu. KTO provides the attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, and other authoritative Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 89
geographic data of each locality in both Chinese and Korean for Baidu Map, and coordinates with the Korean tourism industry to launch a series of comprehensive and in-depth cooperation activities with Baidu Map. Meanwhile, Baidu Map pushes more authoritative information, more convenient services, and more economic activities to Chinese visitors travelling to the Republic of Korea. Chinese tourists can not only consult travel information in both Chinese and Korean on Baidu Map, but also enjoy one-step services with a reliance on the association between Baidu and other travel service enterprises.
4.4.6 Key solutions
–– The Republic of Korea implements a government-led tourism development strategy. It not only formulates overall planning and phased implementation programmes for national tourism, but also constantly optimizes infrastructure and supporting facilities and provides facilitation services for tourists. All these have created an attractive tourism atmosphere and a good reception environment; –– The export of the Republic of Korea’s pop culture has generated a great impact in many Asian countries including China and enhanced the attractiveness of its destinations. The country has skillfully integrated its pop culture into tourism products, as well as the marketing of attractions and routes. Pop culture and fashion have created a steady stream of tourists for the country; –– To attract Chinese visitors, the Government has further relaxed its visa policy, by introducing the long-term multiple-entry visa, exempting the visa application fee for Chinese group travellers, and implementing a visa-free policy for Jeju Island. All these measures have greatly fuelled Chinese nationals’ desire to visit the country; and –– The Republic of Korea has made great efforts in travel facilitation for Chinese tourists, ranging from travel tips, websites and mobile applications in the Chinese language to Chinese-speaking tour guides. As a result, travel to the Republic of Korea has become easy and convenient for Chinese citizens.
4.5 Malaysia
Malaysia was among the first South-East Asian tourist destinations to enter the Chinese market and was granted Approved Destination Status (ADS) in the early 1990s. Thanks to the relatively short flight distance and mature tourism routes and products, Malaysia has always been a popular destination for Chinese nationals and has attracted Chinese tourists of all ages and occupations over the past two decades. According to the official statistics of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, Malaysia recorded more than 2.12 million Chinese tourist arrivals in 2016, an increase of 26% over 2015. The number of Chinese tourists has almost quadrupled in the past ten years.24
With the rapid development of China’s outbound tourism market and the changing needs of http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 tourists, destinations face increasingly fiercer competition in the Chinese market. Malaysia is also faced with a variety of challenges to inject new vitality and improve the competitiveness and attractiveness of its destinations. Malaysia has adopted a series of measures, such as promoting
24 Tourism Malaysia (2016), Malaysia Tourism Statistics in Brief (online), available at: www.tourism.gov.my/statistics (16-06-2017). 90 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
sustainable tourism planning, upgrading product and service quality, developing themed and experimental tourism products, customizing marketing activities for specific consumer groups and market segments, and maintaining close cooperation with the tourism industry in China.
4.5.1 Policies and planning
Cross department cooperation under government support
Given that tourism is a pillar industry of Malaysia, the Malaysian Government has made great efforts to support its development. In 1972, the Tourism Development Corporation (TDC) was established under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, responsible for formulating tourism development policies. In 1992, the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB) was incorporated on top of TDC, as the tourism marketing and promotion agency affiliated to Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC). By actively propelling the development of Malaysia’s inbound tourism, MTPB, popularly known as Tourism Malaysia, is committed to building Malaysia into an influential international tourist destination.
Accelerating tourism in Malaysia is not just the task of the tourism sector, but a responsibility shared by almost all Government departments. Tourism, transportation, civil aviation and safety departments often have to work together. In addition to MOTAC and MTPB of the tourism sector, other governmental departments are also directly involved in tourism development and planning. For example, the Department of Agriculture has a role to play in agrotourism, while the Department of Forestry and Department of Wildlife and National Parks has a role in developing ecotourism products, the Ministry of Education in education tourism, and the Department of Museums and Antiquities in cultural and historical heritage tourism. Due to the powerful resource integration capabilities of governmental departments, Malaysia has organized many festivals and international events. The septennial event of Visit Malaysia Year feature festival celebrations, major events and exhibitions across the country. Malaysia Year of Festivals is continuing the momentum and efforts of Visit Malaysia Year to make Malaysia the top-of-the-mind tourist destination, encouraging tourists to stay longer in order to enjoy the festival offerings nationwide.
Building an ideal destination image
The Malaysian Government strives to improve the international influence of its tourism and build an ideal destination image by optimizing its internal environment and adopting sustainable development strategies. The Malaysian Government has prioritized the improvement of tourism facilities to better serve visitors. In addition to working with airlines, travel agencies and hotels and upgrading the supporting facilities around tourist attractions, the Government also focuses its attention on elevating the quality of travel practitioners, tour guides and travel agents.
Malaysia attaches great importance to tourism culture and builds its cultural brand through the http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 “Visit Malaysia Year” campaign and other cultural events and festivals, as a way of attracting tourists around the world. Moreover, the Government has positioned Malaysia as an ideal place for shopping via overall planning and joint efforts. In terms of hardware facilities, Malaysia has many large shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur. The prices of goods are rather competitive due to the low rents of shopping centers. To stimulate consumption and prolong the stays of overseas tourists, Shopping Carnivals are hosted in March, August and December of each year, during which shopping malls will be on sales to attract foreign tourists. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 91
Enforcing convenient visa policies
The Malaysian Government has gradually relaxed the visa formality to China citizens to encourage travelling from all walks of life from China. Malaysia started offering visa-on-arrival (VOA) to Chinese tourists on 1 January 2014 entering from 6 major international airports. In 2016, Malaysia introduced new visa policies as a way of increasing more Chinese visitors and maintaining economic growth. The implementation of e-visa system has reduced the visa processing time to 24 hours. Malaysia has also launched Visa Free programme for Chinese tourists starting 1 March until 31 December 2016, which provided Chinese tourists more options and facilitation depending on the purpose of their visit and length of stay in Malaysia. According to Tourism Malaysia, since the e-visa and visa-free programme was launched, the response from China nationals has been positive.25
Increasing flights with China
Malaysia prioritizes both tier 1 and tier 2 cities to further develop the Chinese market. Tourism Malaysia actively cooperates with airlines to explore new routes that connect tier 2 cities and Malaysia, such as chartered direct flights between Qingdao of China and Malaysia, direct flight from Chengdu to Langkawi as launched by AirAsia. Malaysia Airlines plans to open 11 new routes at 8 terminals in China and increase 35 flights to China each week in 2017. Malaysia is optimistic about business opportunities in China. Driven by the connections on food, language and culture, the number of Chinese arrivals is growing rapidly. Malaysia Airlines will continue to boost tourism between the two countries and launch seasonal or temporary flight services in key tourist cities.
4.5.2 Product development
Attracting independent travellers with themed tourism products
With the rapid increase in the number of independent travellers, Malaysia further taps its rich tourism resources and develops tourism products themed on the beach, islands, natural scenery, urban lifestyle, hospitality, culture, food and world heritage. High-quality travel experience and services are launched as a way of captivating independent travellers who usually have a higher spending power.
Tourism Malaysia conducts market surveys and demand analysis for Chinese tourists on a regular basis and then pushes differentiated tourism contents to different consumer groups. For example, Tourism Malaysia promotes winter escapes in northern China during the winter season to target golfers, fishing lovers and senior citizens. In summer, Tourism Malaysia places family packages for the summer holiday break. Tourism Malaysia offers island holidays in Sabah and Sarawak for those seeking a short vacation holiday with shorter flying time. Tourism Malaysia promotes a tropical fruit feast experience to fruit lovers and summer camp activities to students so that they http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 would have a close contact with nature.26
25 Tourism Malaysia (2016).
26 Ibid. 92 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In addition, Malaysia makes full use of its tourism resources and increases the efforts for the promotion of unconventional tourist destinations, to attract visitors interested in in-depth tours, as well as repeat visitors. As Chinese people pay increasing attention to health, Malaysia has started to develop more cycle tracks, parks and gardens, popularizing a healthy lifestyle and green tourism in Malaysia.
Working closely with tour operators to jointly promote tourism products
Malaysia has become a popular South-East Asian destination for Chinese tourists because of its close partnership with the Chinese travel trade and the efforts to jointly develop and launch tourism products. Tourism Malaysia has maintained a long-term, stable relationship with China’s leading travel service company China Comfort Travel (CCT). In 2010, CCT unveiled the “Love Malaysia” campaign, exporting more than 6,000 tourists to Malaysia each year. In 2012, Johor Bahru became a priority of marketing tourism to Malaysia. CCT, in collaboration with Singapore Airlines, launched the “Singapore + Johor Bahru” joint tourism product, which has become one of the most favoured products by Chinese tourists during summer and winter vacations.
As more and more Chinese people choose to travel independently, Tourism Malaysia strengthened cooperation with the FIT business units of travel agencies, especially units associated with island and holiday tourism products. Seeing the continuously expanding audience of online travel agencies (OTAs), Tourism Malaysia also increased marketing efforts through online channel to attract more independent travellers. In November 2016, Tourism Malaysia cemented a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s leading OTA Alitrip, launching the “Malaysia Pavilion” on Alitrip. On the Malaysia Pavilion page, Chinese tourists can not only view the beautiful pictures of Malaysia and learn about its culture, but also conveniently purchase various Malaysian tourism products. At the same time, Malaysian tour operators may also advertise their products and services to Chinese tourists on the Malaysia Pavilion page, including domestic tours and hotel packages (with or without air tickets), shopping and food vouchers, tickets to tourist attractions and events, transportation services, communications services, etc. The in-depth partnership with Alitrip has brought first-hand, exclusive local tourism resources to Chinese visitors and familiarized them with Malaysian customs and culture.
4.5.3 Marketing
There is only one place where all the colours, flavours, sounds and sights of Asia come together – Malaysia. Malaysia has defined an express positioning for itself – ”Malaysia, Truly Asia”. Therefore, its marketing activities focus on communicating Malaysian rich multicultural tourism resources, organizing large tourism festivals to capture the attention of the world, and engage in integrated online and offline marketing activities to enhance exposure and visibility.
Focusing on culture tourism marketing http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
Malaysia is characterized by the coexistence of multiple ethnic groups, languages and cultures, whose clash and fusion have procured the formation of a unique society where religions, culture, traditions and customs, clothes, language and food blend harmoniously. Malaysia boasts up to 100 distinctive traditional festivals, laying a solid foundation for cultural marketing. For example, rich history and diversified culture are the core tourism resources of Malacca, Malaysia. The local Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 93
tourism department, together with enterprises, presents cultural experience attractions such as Indian Village and Dutch Village, and convenes the lively Indian Deepavali Festival, Holland Poseidon Festival and other traditional festivals. Visitors are invited to participate in all activities. Such tourism products that integrate history, religion and folk customs are highly welcomed by all tourists, and especially Chinese visitors. Chinese visitors identify with the Chinese elements found in Malaysian culture. The commonalities between China and Malaysia have intrigued Chinese tourists and stimulated them to explore traditional Malaysian festivals.
Festival marketing
Through coordinated planning, the Malaysian government has inaugurated nationwide “Visit Malaysia Year” (VMY) campaigns. The campaign was first launched in 1990 with the theme “Fascinating Malaysia, Year of Festivals”, which was a huge success. The success of VMY 1990 spurred another VMY in 1994. This time around, the theme was “Fascinating Malaysia, Naturally More”. The third VMY was in 2007 in conjunction with Malaysia’s 50th Independence Anniversary, so the theme was defined as “Celebrating 50 years of Nationhood”. In 2014, Malaysia held its fourth VMY with the theme of “Celebrating Malaysia Truly Asia” to reflect the diversity in unity of all Malaysians. More than 200 cultural activities and events were organized to showcase the urban landscape, historical monuments, island lifestyle and ecological nature, thereby forming a complete tourism map. The events were intended to build Malaysia into a popular tourist destination and thereby capture the attention of the entire world. The Malaysia Year of Festivals (MyFEST) 2015 continued to create a year-round festive atmosphere: cultural festivals, shopping extravaganzas, international acclaimed events, ecotourism events, arts, music showcases, food promotion and other themed events.
Promoting destinations through road shows and exhibitions
Tourism Malaysia makes full use of online and offline channels in the promotion of destination tourism resources and products. In addition to employing newspaper, television, Internet and other mainstream media, Tourism Malaysia also holds road shows and participates in professional exhibitions to demonstrate images of destinations, recommend VMY activities, strengthen cooperation with the travel trade and interact with tourists. In March 2015, top leaders of Tourism Malaysia led a delegation of travel agents to promote MyFEST 2015 in China. The delegation traveled to Shantou, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Changsha and strived to advertise Malaysian tourism products in conjunction with the Maritime Silk Road proposed by the Chinese Government. Particularly, the delegation was given an opportunity to communicate with representatives of China’s tourism industry face to face, to familiarize the Chinese representatives with the various activities of MyFEST. In this way, Chinese travel agencies have the opportunity to come up with ways to integrate the activities into their tours and hence give visitors unparalleled experience.
In addition to regular road shows and promotion events, Tourism Malaysia also participates in a variety of important tourism trade exhibitions in China to exploit target markets. In 2015, Tourism http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Malaysia led Malaysian local travel agencies and attended the China West Tourism Industry Expo 2015, exhibiting the most classic and unique tourism products of Malaysia. At the end of 2015, Tourism Malaysia, together with its Chinese partners joined the Kunming China–ASEAN Boutique Culture Expo 2015. Themed on “Island, Food, Shopping and Family Fun”, Tourism Malaysia displayed the charm and culture of Malaysia. In May 2016, Tourism Malaysia, as a partner of the host country, again joined the CMT China, recommending independent tours and themed tours, 94 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
self-driving tours, RV (Recreational Vehicle) camping life and travel products related to outdoor leisure activities to Chinese citizens.
Valuing cooperation with Chinese travel trade
Malaysia values cooperation with travel trade in the promotion of destinations. Representatives of the tourism and media industry are regularly invited to visit destinations, so that they could have a better understanding of Malaysian tourism resources and products and interconnect with local travel enterprises. “Global Meet Malaysia” is an annual global promotion event debuted by Tourism Malaysia in 2003. Representatives from media, enterprises and travel agencies of dozens of countries including China are invited to the event. In addition to conventional business negotiations between buyers and travel agencies, the representatives are invited to tour Malaysia most of the time. Tourism Malaysia believes that personal experience and word of mouth is unrivalled by any elaborate advertisement in terms of publicity effects.
In 2015, Tourism Malaysia, in joint efforts with three airlines (Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia and Xiamen Airlines), invited more than 150 tourism and media representatives from 14 Chinese cities to attend the “Make It Malaysia” event. The event intended to advertise MyFEST 2015 and Malaysia tourism. Particularly, under the arrangement of Tourism Malaysia, executives of the local tourism industry met face to face with Chinese delegates, hence enhancing mutual understanding. During the visit, Tourism Malaysia set in place a variety of team building activities and interactive competitions, such as showing innovative ideas, sharing destination stories, holding a photography contest on Weibo, competing for the best photo award, etc. After visiting classic travel routes of Malaysia, the delegations brought back home the newest tourism information of Malaysia to entice more Chinese visitors.
Malaysia entered into Chinese outbound tourism market early and is one of the traditional popular destinations in Southeast Asia. In the face of intensified competition in the Chinese market and changing demands of Chinese tourists, Malaysia actively explores tourism resources, diversifies tourism products and adjusts the positioning of destinations, in a bid to improve its competitiveness among Southeast Asian destinations.
4.5.4 Key solutions
–– The Malaysian Government strongly supports the development of the tourism industry. Overall planning is implemented for the tourism industry and tourism resources are developed under the joint efforts of various departments. The aim is to build Malaysia into an influential international tourism country and improve its attractiveness as a destination country; –– In terms of product development, Malaysia launched themed products for different consumer groups and developed in-depth tourism products to appeal to the mid- to high-end travellers and independent travellers who have higher spending powers; http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 –– Tourism Malaysia attaches great importance to cooperation with Chinese tour operators and media, and arranges relevant stakeholders to visit Malaysia regularly. Through these first- hand visits, Chinese tour operators and media have a better understanding of Malaysian tourism resources and products, and at the same time their personal experience has been an effective advertisement for the destinations; and Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 95
–– When tapping into the Chinese market, Malaysia pays attention to tier 2 tourism source regions. Tourism Malaysia actively cooperates with airlines to open new flights connecting tier 2 regions with Malaysia and introduces seasonal or temporary flights in key tourist cities.
4.6 Maldives
As one of the most popular island destinations among Chinese tourists, the Maldives was granted the ADS in 2003. In 2015, the Maldives welcomed 359,514 visitors from China which represented 29.13% of total visitor arrivals during the year. China has been the no. 1 source market for the Maldives in 2015.27 Amid the global economic downturn, the Maldives has seen a drastic decrease of visitors from European countries and a marked increase of Chinese visitors. Therefore, the Chinese market undoubtedly means a lot to the Maldives tourism industry. Under the active efforts of the tourism department and enterprises of Maldives together with Chinese tour operators, the Maldives enjoy a high reputation and visibility among all Chinese outbound island destinations.
4.6.1 Policies and planning
The Maldives Government is devoted to sustainable development of tourism, and has introduced detailed tourism policies and planning for balancing tourism development and ecological protection. The first National Environment Action Plan was promulgated as early as 1989, which restricted the over-exploitation of natural resources. In 2005, the Maldives Government formulated the Strategic Economic Plan, proposing to establish a high-standard environmental protection system to safeguard the ecological environment and maintain the sustainable growth of the tourism industry. Additionally, the Maldives has put in place environmental standards for the development and management of island resorts, and provides training for villagers who work in the tourism industry. The protection of the natural environment, besides keeping an ecological balance, may also serve as a way of attracting tourists through ecological diversity.
The Maldives Government has released four long-term tourism plans, actively exploring tourism management and development models based on scientific planning. The Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture released the Fourth Tourism Master Plan 2013–2017 in 2013 to strengthen tourism regulation and planning and to ensure competition in the tourism market. The Plan reflects efforts made by the Government to propel the development of tourism and economy. Proposals of the Plan include maintaining Maldives position in world markets, managing environment and conservation issues, engaging more Maldivians in tourism careers, promoting investment towards sustainable growth and high product quality, etc.28
The innovation of Maldives’ marketing model lies in the participation of multiple players, including the Government, enterprises, international media, and international tourism marketing organizations. The Government is a major player in the organization of destination marketing http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 campaigns and overall brand building, responsible for social resource integration, investment promotion and establishment of market-oriented operational models. At the same time, the
27 World Tourism Organization (2017b), p. 501.
28 Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture, Republic of Maldives (2013), Fourth Tourism Master Plan 2013–2017, Volume 1: Strategic Action Plan, p. 21 (online), available at: www.tourism.gov.mv (15-06-2017). 96 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Maldives implements a public-private partnership strategy. The private sector focuses on the investment and management of the leisure resorts, while the public sector as represented by the tourism department and higher educational institutions leans towards the construction of hardware and software facilities. Enterprises play a dual role as both a promoter and beneficiary in government marketing, and are responsible for the marketing of specific tourism products.
4.6.2 Product development
“One Island One Resort” policy
To protect the fragile ecological environment and unique culture of Maldives, the Government launched the “One Island One Resort” product development model in the 1980s. Under this model, each island is developed by an independent hotel operator, so each island has its distinctive architectural style, layout, facilities and cultural identity. Meanwhile, each island is equipped with complete recreational facilities, to meet the diversified needs of tourists on hotels and services. Currently, there are more than 100 open islands in the Maldives, and tourists probably choose 1–2 islands for recreation and leisure during one trip, to experience different hotel services, recreational facilities and cultural atmosphere. Through “One Island One Resort” concept the Maldives has positioned itself into a high-end international resort, which has attracted the investment of many high-end hotels. Close to 40 international hotel groups, including Banyan Tree, Hilton and Starwood, are now represented in the management of the resorts, constituting a core competitiveness of Maldives’ tourism products.
Differentiated product policies
The Maldives adopts a differentiated strategy in tourism product marketing. To maximize economic benefits and minimize potential adverse impacts on tourism, the country has been primarily targeting consumers with high spending power. The Government encourages the development of boutique resorts, to attract high-end visitors. This can boost tourism development and revenues while maintaining environmental and social sustainability. However, in the context of increasingly fiercer competition, the Maldives not only strives to grab new consumers, but also takes various measures to win over repeat visitors. The middle market has also become a strategic focus. In addition to the high-end market, the Government also explores the middle market based on actual situations. In 2014, the Maldives planned to build over 20 three-star or four-star hotels on Thumburi and Hulhiyandhoo islands, in a bid to attract more mid-market consumers and diversify its tourism products.29
When it comes to tourism product design, different islands may launch products of different themes and levels. There are high-end luxury honeymoon products, high-quality diving products, and romantic products for lovers, hence captivating different consumer groups. For example, Paradise Island mainly targets honeymoon couples or lovers, while the “Le Cheval Blanc Randheli” on http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Noonu Atoll, Randheli Island focuses on high-end consumer groups. The island has been named as LV Island because it is developed and managed by the Louis Vuitton Hotel Management Group. Tourists enjoy many Louis Vuitton products on the island, such as toilet accessories, tableware, towels and bed sheets, bringing a full range of high-end luxurious feeling to guests.
29 For more information please visit: www.maldives.com/maldives-launches-integrated-resorts-development-project/. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 97
Designing customer-oriented tourism products
With improved spending power, Chinese tourists increasingly request for personalized products. The Maldives’ tourism products are mainly for three types of consumer groups: those on honeymoon trips, family trips and high-end vacations. To win over more Chinese visitors, the Maldives Government plans richer products based on consumer preferences associated with a variety of recreational facilities to enhance the leisure quality of island resorts. There is a wealth of islands with different activities and hotel types/brands available based on tourist preferences. Product selection and room booking are all guest-oriented. Visitors may choose the appropriate tourism product in accordance with their budget, ranking of islands, island level, and other factors.
Training travel specialists
In 2016, the tourism department of Maldives implemented an online training course for the Chinese market through the online training platform of China Travel Online Academy.30 The course enables Chinese travel agents to learn about the detailed tourism resources of Maldives destinations and master the selling propositions and practical information of its tourism products easily and within the shortest time possible.
The training course introduces Maldives hotels and resorts to travel agents through texts and pictures in an intuitive and concise manner. By learning about the destinations, environmental protection moves, must-see attractions, festivals and events, and practical information, Chinese travel agents will have an enhanced understanding of the country. One advantage of the course is that all contents are released online, such that learners may study at a pace and time of their own. Those completing the course are awarded the “Maldives Travel Expert” certificate by the tourism department.31
4.6.3 Marketing
Social media
Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation (MMPRC) has opened its official Sina Weibo to better carry out marketing activities in China. In addition to posting beautiful pictures and features about travel in Maldives regularly, MMPRC organizes prize draws and other activities on Weibo to interact with fans. In addition, Weibo also serves as a platform for the close communication between Maldives Tourism Board and Chinese travel trade partners. For example, Maldives Tourism Board attended the China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market (COTTM) in Beijing from 29–31 March 2017. Afterwards, Maldives Tourism Board tweeted about the event on Weibo, which was reposted by many Chinese tour operators who attended the event. As a result, the exposure of Maldives tourism was greatly enhanced. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
30 China Online Travel Academy is an open training platform where Chinese travel professionals can take online courses provided by destinations, travel and tourism suppliers. For more information please visit: http://ctoa.travellinkdaily.com/.
31 Tourism Department of Maldives provides free training courses to Chinese travel professionals on the platform of China Online Travel Academy. For more information please visit: http://ctoa.travellinkdaily.com:8103/maldives/. 98 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
MMPRC often invites travel experts and signed photographers to visit Maldives, and ask them to post pictures and descriptions of their trip on their Weibo accounts. These travel experts have their own fans and followers, and the tweeting and re-tweeting has promoted the tourism brand of Maldives. Moreover, MMPRC also cooperates with magazines and invites Chinese stars to shoot photos in the country. Fans of the magazine and the stars tend to follow in the footsteps of their idols.
Unlike other island countries, many of Maldives’ popular island destinations have opened their own Weibo and WeChat accounts, to promote their unique landscapes and services. The use of social media platforms familiar to the Chinese is undoubtedly very effective to win over Chinese visitors and is also conducive to Chinese tour operators in the selling of destination products.
Themed marketing activities
China is an important inbound source market of Maldives, so the Maldives Government has always attached great importance to promoting in the Chinese market. As such, Maldives has launched many marketing activities and exhibitions, to familiarize Chinese nationals with the country and entice them to travel there. For example, after the tsunami in late 2004, the Government came up with the “Maldives Is Safe” slogan to restore its tourism industry. The “Maldives, Sunny Side of Life” marketing slogan was proposed in 2008. To celebrate the “Visit Maldives 2016” and record arrivals, the Government inaugurated a series of commemorative events. On 7 August 2016, Maldives had 750,000 visitors, a milestone landmark. The 750,000th visitor was a Mr. Wang from Xi’an, China. He and his family were warmly welcomed by representatives of the Maldives Government and local people at the VIP lounge of the airport. Meanwhile, they were also awarded a special medal while the Meeru Island hotel in which they stayed presented them with featured gifts. This commemorative event caught wide attention in China with very good publicity results.
Maldives also values exchanges with Chinese travel trade and often attends tourism exhibitions or holds road shows in China. This can enhance the active level of the tourism market, better interconnect Maldives’ tourism industry and culture with the Chinese market and hence attract more Chinese visitors. For example, Maldives Tourism Board, in joint efforts with several tourism suppliers, organized a road-show in China’s Chongqing, Chengdu and Guangzhou in 2014. Given that Chongqing and Chengdu are two promising markets of outbound tourism, Maldives Tourism Board hoped that the activity could expand and deepen sources of tourist arrivals and enhance its influence in China’s south-western regions. In 2015, Maldives Tourism Board again carried out a road-show in China’s Beijing, Zhengzhou and Shanghai together with local airlines, hotels, resorts and travel agencies. Through the road-show in Zhengzhou, the Maldives Tourism Board hoped to further tap China’s central region. In November 2014, Maldives Tourism Board participated in the China International Travel Mart 2014 in Shanghai, to further expand its influence in the Chinese market while pitching its rich and diversified tourism resources to China’s tourism industry and consumers. In October of the same year, the Maldives joined the Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo. From 14–16 April 2015, the Maldives Tourism Board, together with http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 several exhibitors, attended the 11th COTTM in Beijing. At COTTM, the Maldives Government announced the official kick-off of THUMBURI, a tourism real estate investment project. The Government hoped to entice more middle classes to the Maldives with featured products that were different from existing tourism resources. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 99
Featured activities launched by islands
In addition to government departments, resorts and hotels of islands often introduce featured marketing activities to attract travellers. The Outrigger Konotta Maldives Resort rolled out the “Colorful parent-child tour” during Easter, in a hope that all families staying at the resort during the period may enjoy a variety of parent-child activities available on the island. The resort introduced a brand-new sightseeing submarine, offering underworld adventures to guests. Meanwhile, the resort also built a marine knowledge-training base, where guests could learn about marine environmental protection knowledge while having fun. Jumeirah Vittaveli resort once unveiled a “dining by design” service. The hotel’s culinary team would tailor-made meals for guests based on their requests, providing a one and only dining experience.
4.6.4 Travel facilitation
Direct flights between China and Maldives
Before 2009, to go to Maldives, Chinese tourists needed to transit in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Doha, Dubai or Colombo. Having multiple layovers was a detractor for Chinese visitors to Maldives. The first direct flight from China’s Guangzhou to Maldives was opened on 27 September 2009, greatly facilitating Chinese visitors. At present, 13 cities in China have enabled direct flights to Maldives, saving both time and money in transportation.
Hotel facilitation services
Most Chinese arrivals in Maldives are independent travellers. To facilitate these tourists, the tourism department requires all islands to provide Chinese menus, Chinese translators and service staff that can speak Chinese. Moreover, to be aligned with the paying habits of Chinese visitors, Hulhumale Beach Club now allows payment via Alipay, while other islands are expected to enable Alipay and WeChat payment methods soon.
4.6.5 Key solutions
Maldives is one of the most well-known island destinations in China, so the Government’s successful expansion and marketing experience have strong reference values for other island destinations. –– Maldives upholds ecotourism and the Government has promulgated a series of environmental protection policies and regulations, to maintain and protect the ecological environment and to promote the sustainable development of tourism; –– The Maldives Government innovatively created the “One Island One Resort” operational model, which has successfully built its national image; http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 –– In China’s outbound tourism market, the Maldives mainly targets consumers with high spending power instead of the general public. With a focus on the high-end market, the country also moderately extends into the mid-range market according to local situations; and –– The Maldives Government combines online (such as Weibo, WeChat and social media platforms) and offline means for promotion in China. All these measures have effectively shaped its image as an island resort and improved the visibility of its destinations. 100 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
4.7 Thailand
Thailand was granted the ADS in 1988. As a main short-haul outbound destination, Thailand is appreciated by Chinese tourists for its unique culture and suitable climate. Thailand recorded 4.63 million and 7.93 million Chinese arrivals in 2014 and 2015 respectively. In 2015, Chinese visitors accounted for more than a fourth in Thailand’s total international arrivals, while Thailand was China’s largest outbound destination.32
At present, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has set up five local offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Kunming to carry out related promotional activities. The Thai Government has made great efforts in tourism product development and marketing and released many facilitation policies to make the trip to Thailand enjoyable and unforgettable.
4.7.1 Policies and planning
To stimulate the development of the tourism industry, TAT promulgated the tourism development strategic plan in 2013 designed to improve the profile of its tourism industry and to move upmarket. The plan contains five goals. First, build the Amazing Thailand brand. Second, tap into quality tours with good services and products, targeting at the high spender market and featured hobby market. Third, put more efforts in the mainstream market, including inspiring repeat visitors, exploring first-time visitors, and stimulating the slack-season market. Fourth, capitalize on the online market, such as increasing the active level of the online market and improving the online environment. Fifth, strengthen policy coordination with ASEAN, including joint selling products with neighbouring countries, developing the ASEAN market, and supporting international cooperation framework.
In 2016, Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) released the national tourism development outline for the next five years (2017–2021) and formulated five strategies, with a goal of upgrading Thailand’s tourism profile into a top destination in Asia Pacific within the next 10 to 20 years. 1. Improve the quality of tourist attractions and tourism products and services while paying attention to the sustainable development of tourist attractions and traditional folk customs; 2. Vigorously support the tourism industry and construct more convenient infrastructure; 3. Optimize the abilities of tourism practitioners and popularize the concept of host among the general public; 4. Strive to maintain the ratio of different tourist groups, to protect traditional Thai customs and way of life; and 5. Forge a participation mechanism to pool the efforts of the Government, the general public and communities, and strengthen cooperation with other countries.
Meanwhile, the Thai Government has presented various favourable visa policies for Chinese http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 nationals. For example, the cost of landing visa has been cut by half. The visa-free policy was implemented from 1 December 2016 to 28 February 2017, which was subsequently extended to
32 World Tourism Organization (2017b), p. 798. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 101
31 August. Such a policy greatly facilitated the travel of Chinese tourists during the Spring Festival and hence was welcomed by Chinese arrivals.33
4.7.2 Product development
Promoting themed tourism products
As Chinese tourists gradually seek more of an experiential type of tourism, traditional products need to be upgraded, especially for repeat visitors. In view of this, TAT constantly introduces new and modern tourism products, to meet the demands of Chinese travelling public for in-depth and experiential tourism.
TAT released five strategic goals and five themes for tourism and launched a total of 39 quality routes in 2013, in the hope of building an “Amazing Thailand, Quality Tour” brand image. Subsequently, TAT undertook a series of activities integrated to the five themes, i.e. upgrade of traditional destinations, emerging destinations, honeymoon, self-driving, and golf. Examples included the “Love at Hua Hin” wedding ceremony and honeymoon beach parties under the honeymoon theme, “Golf Festival” under the golf theme, and cycling activities under the self- driving theme.
In 2016, TAT introduced a programme designed to boost and elevate the quality of China’s tourism market. Specific contents included a photography contest, Thailand honeymoon activity, China Golf Tournament 2016 and tourism fair, with an intention to attract honeymoon couples, golf lovers and other high-end consumers. TAT believes that China’s high-end tourism population is critical in boosting its tourism industry and is the most promising target. In addition, TAT organized honeymoon activities and a series of featured activities in August 2016 specifically for female consumers, including women’s photography contest, women’s golf challenge match, etc.
In 2017, MOTS focused its attention primarily on sports tourism, ASEAN tourism, medical tourism, wedding tourism, and maritime tourism. Taking advantage of the Thailand International Marathon 2017, TAT and Chinese tour operators jointly introduced the marathon tour, to propel the development of sports tourism. Moreover, in the year 2017, the Thai Government will continue to advertise unique local experiences with train tours, barrier-free tours and night tours, allowing visitors to have an authentic taste of Thai culture and way of life.
Strengthening cooperation with the industry and jointly launching high-end quality tour products
High-end independent travel and deep experiential tours are the future trends for travel. To elevate the international reputation of Thai tourism and upgrade it to a higher level, TAT, in joint efforts with Chinese tour operators, is committed to offer quality tour products. The online and offline http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 promotion capabilities of these tour operators are capitalized to increase the visibility of Thai destinations and communicate its quality tour products.
33 Tourism Authority of Thailand (2017), ‘Thailand extends visa fee waiver scheme for tourists from 21 countries’, press release published 27 February 2017, Tourism Authority of Thailand Newsroon (online), available at: www.tatnews.org (23-04-2017). 102 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In 2015, TAT and ctrip launched “We love Thai” refined theme routes together with a series of high- end group tour products including exclusive tours, “pure sightseeing tour”, “food + SPA tour”, and “premium tour”, which were highly sought after by high-end consumers. New star products and travel methods were launched by leveraging on the online travel agency’s platform advantages, high-end consumer base and quality service reputation. The aim was to advocate high-quality tourism and spread the true charm of Thailand. In 2016, TAT once again teamed up with the online travel agency and built a quality Thai tour platform, through which tourists can learn about quality tourism suppliers more directly and vividly. Through the platform, Thai destinations are introduced, good local travel agencies are recommended, and standards for grading tourism products are formulated, making Thai tourism products more transparent and rational. This can guarantee the quality of Thailand products to the maximum extent.
In June 2016, TAT joined forces with China’s leading online travel agency (OTA), Baicheng.com, and jointly organized a promotional event for luxury tourism products. By combining fragmented tourism products such as visa, independent travel, group tour, one-day tour, and tickets, Baicheng.com could meet the demands of different consumers regarding honeymoon, parent- child, and family tours, providing Chinese consumers with products different from conventional tours and unique experiences.
In 2017, TAT unveiled their new logo that emphasizes the quality of its tourism for the Chinese market. Moreover, TAT joins forces with China’s OTA LY.com and capitalizes on the latter’s online and offline resources to enhance the profile of Thai destinations and spread the word of its quality tours. LY.com, revolving around the theme “Quality Tour, Happy Life”, provides a series of quality Thai tourism products from product development and online promotion to offline experience and good services.
4.7.3 Marketing
Positioning the image of destinations expressly
The “Amazing Thailand” tourism slogan was introduced in 1998. In the following years, the Thai Government highlighted “Land of Smiles”, “Land of Romance” and “Land of Wonder” themes, to conceptualize “Amazing Thailand” and implant good perceptions in the minds of visitors. From 1998, the Thai Government and the tourism industry have launched seven featured tourism products, i.e. Thai way of life, nature, history and culture, health, fashion, MICE and festival tours revolving around the “Amazing Thailand” concept. Logos and signs of “Amazing Thailand” can be seen everywhere during the activities.
In 2012, TAT and Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association joined forces and tailor-made the quality assurance plan for Chinese visitors, with the intention of presenting high-quality Thai products to Chinese nationals. As such, “Quality Tour” was added on the basis of “Amazing http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Thailand” to its brand image.
In 2017, TAT once again introduced a new campaign to emphasize its quality tours for the Chinese market. The campaign intends to further illustrate its quality tours from culture, landscape, food, entertainment, and fashion and fully demonstrates its charm ranging from enchanting sceneries and honeymoon attractions to luxury vacations and quality shopping. This campaign also builds Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 103
Thailand’s image as an integrated tourist destination. TAT hopes this could shatter the constraints as a traditional destination and inject the most expressive Thai elements into the new image, thereby offering brand new experiences and enjoyment and surreal fantastic trips to visitors.34
Localized marketing
In view of China’s huge potential consumer market, Thailand has adopted a localized marketing strategy. TAT has set up offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Chengdu and Guangzhou, responsible for tourism marketing, consultation, liaison and coordination of different regions of China. The Kunming office was opened in 2012 and has undertaken a series of targeted activities such as “Land of Smiles”, “Quality Thai Experience Tour” and “Romantic Hua Hin” for the eight western cities under its charge, i.e. Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu, Xinjiang and Tibet. The activities have been well received by local customers.
The popularity of smart phones has made mobile marketing a preferred choice. All the five TAT offices have opened Weibo and WeChat accounts on which targeted publicity activities are posted, Thailand attractions are recommended, and latest policies and unique Thai festivals are introduced. The accounts publish beautiful scenic pictures, special street shops, news, visa policies, and travel tips, and organize prize draw and other interactive activities. In this way, Chinese tourists can easily access information about travel to Thailand and hence may be intrigued to do so.
To further penetrate the Chinese market, TAT launched official Chinese website that contains detailed contents regarding where to go, explorations and experiences, and policies. Besides pictures and textual descriptions, how to reach the destinations is also provided in detail. The “Explorations and experiences” section mainly introduces activities that can be explored primarily by high-end luxury seekers, including private jets, high-end shopping venues, private custom services, as well as the contact information of partners and booking link. The “Policies” column provides information on the detailed procedures and credentials required for visiting Thailand, to save time spent on visa processing.
Capitalizing on stars, films and soap operas
Cultural marketing, which capitalizes on films, TV dramas, variety shows, music and movie stars, has become a successful solution for tourism promotion. The spread of Thai culture in China has contributed to the popularity of Thailand tourism. A Little Thing Called Love35, The Love of Siam36 and other Thai films have cultivated many fans and captivated many Chinese tourists. More and more Thai stars are known to the Chinese people with the trending of Thai films and soaps. In view of this, TAT has organized several tourism activities endorsed by Thai stars, with good word-of-mouth publicity. In June 2012, TAT Chengdu launched a special route where Thailand’s most popular stars appeared in the itinerary and led visitors to taste the beauty of Thailand. After a series of celebrity endorsement activities, TAT then invited Thai stars to meet Chinese fans face- to-face, and selected lucky fans to visit Thailand free of charge through contests. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
34 Tourism Authority of Thailand.available at: www.amazingthailand.org.cn/index.php?a=shows&catid=92&id=165.
35 “A Little Thing Called Love”, 2010, directed by Puttipong Pormsaka Na Sakonnakorn and Wasin Pokpong.
36 “The Love of Siam”, 2007, directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul. 104 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In addition, some Chinese hit films and soap operas filmed in Thailand have bolstered Thailand tourism, such as Lost In Thailand37. Lost In Thailand, as a comedy, caters to the preferences of viewers during the Spring Festival, while the beautiful sceneries of Chiang Mai in the film are deeply imprinted in the minds of Chinese audiences. Prior to the release of the Lost In Thailand, TAT showed the film for free on Weibo. Participants of the activity had a chance of meeting stars of the film in person, and lucky participants could win free film tickets. The huge success of the film has encouraged the Chinese tourists to visit Chiang Mai, where most of the film was shot. After the release of the film, TAT then launched the “Travel to Chiang Mai” after Lost In Thailand Weibo re-tweeting activity. Participants were given a chance of winning a five-day-four-night tour for two, with the route designed based on plots of the film.
4.7.4 Travel facilitation
The Thai Government has presented a variety of facilitation policies for Chinese visitors, which has made a positive contribution.
Self-driving tour
At the end of 2016, relevant government departments and some enterprises convened a special meeting for self-driving tour in Chiang Rai. Regulations of self-driving tour via foreign vehicles were discussed and adopted at the meeting. The meeting also determined the time to handle cross-province, cross-border procedures of vehicles, and was shortened from 30 days to 15 days. Qualified travel agencies in Yunnan, China could also promote and develop cross-province self-driving ventures in Thailand. Compared with the self-driving regulations promulgated in June 2016, the new policy greatly simplifies entry procedures of Chinese vehicles and hence facilitates the self-driving tour of Chinese visitors.
Chinese signs at Thai airports
To facilitate the entry and exit of Chinese visitors, Chinese signs were placed around Bangkok and Chiang Mai airports. There is also staff at these airports and Chinese-speaking shop assistants at airport duty-free shops to serve Chinese customers.
4.7.5 Key solutions
In view of China’s tourism market, Thailand has carried out a series of marketing activities and developed themed products to convey and communicate its rich tourism resources and achieved good results. Specifically: –– Through “Amazing Thailand” and the “Quality Tour” campaign launched specially for the Chinese market in 2017, Thailand has successfully established its national image; http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 –– Relying on a wealth of natural and cultural resources, the Thai Government has created a series of themed tourism products, ranging from traditional honeymoon tours and food tours to trips targeting specific consumer groups such as women’s tours, golf tours and medical
37 “Lost in Thailand”, 2012, directed by Xu Zheng. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 105
tours. These products have greatly enriched the variety of Thai tourism and offered more options for Chinese tourists; –– As for marketing, TAT has set up five offices in China. The localized marketing and promotional activities are well received by Chinese tourists; and –– The Thai Government also leverages on films and TV soaps as a way of publicizing Thailand among Chinese nationals.
4.8 France
France officially obtained the ADS Status in 2004. France has become the most important destination on European tour itineraries for the Chinese market. The multi-destination tour packages which include France have been the most popular item in the Chinese market for many years. In 2015, France attracted 2.2 million Chinese visitors, 33% increase over 2014.38
Despite a difficult year in 2016 for Chinese tourism in France, the number of Chinese visitor arrivals to France reached 1.8 million.39 Thanks to several tourism reinforcement campaigns and a strong involvement of all stakeholders, France remains one of the most popular long-haul destinations for Chinese tourists. Penetrating the fastest growing, evolving and competitive global outbound market is an everyday challenge and one, which requires constant innovation in terms of marketing, product development and national policies. The year 2017 seems to be a recovery year, as the number of applications for France-Schengen visas has increased by 33% for the first quarter as compared to 2016. France still aims to reach 5 million Chinese tourists by 2020.
4.8.1 Policies
Although the Chinese outbound tourism to France has experienced some setbacks in 2016, France remains very optimistic to the growth of Chinese market. France has set a new goal to attract 5 million Chinese tourists by 2020.40 In order to achieve this goal, France will invest tens of millions of euros on destination promotion and tourism publicity, as well as take a series of measures to attract more Chinese tourists:
Visa policy41
Constantly improving access to biometrics remains a crucial issue for planning European holidays, as travel agencies must apply for visas from the country where the visitor is spending the most nights.
48 hours’ visa delivery policy: in order to increase the influx of Chinese tourists to France, the French Government has sought to reduce the visa delivery process for Chinese nationals. The issuance of visas for Asian tourists in particular has been accelerated (48-hour visa) since 2014. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
38 World Tourism Organization (2017b), p. 278.
39 Atout France (2016), Report Activity 2016 ,in French (online), available at: www.atout-france.fr/ (16-06-2017).
40 Ibid.
41 Ibid. 106 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
In all of China, France has set up 15 Visa Centers (with some visa centers open on Saturdays) to accelerate the visa approval process.
Schengen/French mobile fingerprinting biometric service:the deployment of this new service represents a key source of future growth of Chinese visitors, particularly for ADS groups from secondary cities devoid of visa application centres, as the applicant would not need to travel to another city for fingerprinting. This service could also be an opportunity to develop the MICE market, as the mobile fingerprint system will facilitate the application visa process for employees who could process fingerprint directly in business premises.
Safety and security policy42
Safety and security are major concerns for Chinese tourists while choosing their travel destination.
Improving safety and security: several measures were recently implemented by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide tourist venues with security; and these measures were in turn relayed to the network of professionals and potential Chinese visitors. These include practical recommendations upon arrival in the Paris airports such as the free “Guide to Staying Safe in Paris” which is issued by Paris Convention and Visitor Bureau and distributed to travellers in eight languages in airports and in tourist areas.
Others policies43
Driving License bilateral agreement: China and France signed recently an agreement that recognized and accepted the validity of driving licenses issued by each country. Under this agreement, China and France will allow holders of valid driving licenses issued by either authority to be able to drive or obtain driving permits without an additional test. This signifies an opportunity to promote self-driving tours to Chinese tourists.
Creating international tourists zones: in 21 areas, including Paris, the establishment of an international tourist zones has helped in facilitating shopping for Chinese tourists. This enables Chinese tourists to shop on Sundays and until midnight on weekdays.
4.8.2 Product development44
Business-to-consumer (B2C): theme product development
France has very rich and diversified tourism resources. In order to help Chinese tourists learn more about French history, culture and other tourism resources, Atout France has broken down the destinations by different geographical regions and provided information on tourism resources by individual region with recommendations on related tourist routes. In addition, several themes have http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 been created to adapt to the Chinese demand for experiential and original tourism experiences such as wine tourism or self-drive holidays.
42 Atout France (2016).
43 Ibid.
44 Ibid. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 107
French art of living – wine tourism: creating wine trails and showcasing France’s different wine growing regions enables incoming visitors to truly appreciate local culture in France. Visits of famous appellations and tasting world-renowned French wine which is closely linked to local heritage and local traditions ensures a veritable showcase of France’s unique art de vivre or way of life.
Self-driving holiday: this kind of product is gaining popularity among Chinese tourists, as it allows them to explore France at their own pace. To promote self-drive packages, the French Tourism board has launched a campaign with the biggest OTA in China. New self-drive itineraries for Chinese tourists have been curated, such as a Loire Valley self-drive tour through small towns, charming villages, vineyards, and forests. Each package includes car rental with GPS, accommodations and selected activities or excursions.
Business-to-business (B2B): professional business events and training
French – Annual workshop: every year, 40 professionals from all over France attend business meetings with 70 Chinese tour operators and 10 specialized media from all over China. The workshop is a perfect platform that assembles all the stakeholders together at the same place and is also a significant cost-effective exercise for French partners who would like to interface with tourism and media professionals keen to know more about France’s touristic offers.
E-learning on WeChat platform: the WeChat travel agent training programme was launched towards the end of 2016. Atout France’s Greater China’s office took optimal advantage of China’s most popular social media platform to provide an online product training course for Chinese travel agents enabling them to enhance their knowledge about the destination. Participants could progress to the next level only upon answering all questions correctly. On the completion of all levels, travel agents receive an official certificate of competency. Since its launch, almost 700 travel agents have accessed this original e-learning training programme.
4.8.3 Marketing strategies45
Business-to-business (B2B) marketing strategies
Key opinion leaders and digital influencers familiarization trips: to specifically target Chinese millennials, familiarization trips are regularly organized with key opinion leaders and digital influencers, as they have a huge impact on their followers’ travel decision making by sharing their experiences. A familiarization trip has been recently organized to showcase the French Riviera and the influencer’s travel experience through an online video has been integrated on social media.
Business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing strategies http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Highlighting 16 world-renowned brands: Paris and a few other destinations currently attract the bulk of Chinese visitors. In order to have a more effective distribution of Chinese tourists throughout France, French authorities realized that there is a need to better capitalize on destinations that
45 Atout France (2016). 108 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
have a strong image internationally. With this in mind, 16 global brands have been identified due to the renown they enjoy internationally. A print and digital brochure in Chinese language is distributed to the general public and travel agents in order to showcase these 16 world-renowned brands.
“Made in France” social media campaign: to connect with a digitally savvy audience, a campaign to reinforce tourism in France is being conducted in 2016 on social media in partnership with the Paris Tourist Office and the City of Nice. This global campaign, Made in France, or Made in 法兰西 in China, focuses on unique products that tourists can experience in France. Chinese tourists can participate in an online vote by sending photos taken in France, giving them the opportunity to win lucrative prizes
4.8.4 Travel facilitation46
Enhancing hospitality facilities for Chinese visitors
Many French travel partners have been encouraged to open accounts on Chinese social networks and offer digital and print information and resources in Chinese. For example, “Le Centre des Monuments Nationaux”, which administers almost 100 cultural monuments in France and the Louvre have opened accounts on Weibo and WeChat, the two most important social networks in China. Both accounts contain information on exhibits and feature guide maps in Chinese. The Palace of Versailles has also opened a WeChat account.
New partnerships between French and Chinese digital operators
Paris Airports, the Paris Ile-de-France Regional Tourism Committee and the Chinese platform, Qyer have developed a partnership to disseminate information to Chinese tourists through a print or digital guide upon their arrival in Paris.
Paris Airport has also developed a partnership with the largest social media Chinese operator – WeChat. Through this collaboration, passengers can access a range of services such as checking flight information, airport service introduction, and tourist guidance by simply following Paris Airport’s Official Account on WeChat.
Training programme for French professionals
As part of an initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the French Tourism Board, professionals wanting to work with Chinese tourists are encouraged to learn the modalities of local nuances by following a practical guide and an online training programme. In total, 1,400 participants including management and professionals of local tourism organizations and service providers, as well as local tour guides have taken the online training http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 programme since its launch.
46 Atout France (2016). Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 109
Facilitating shopping
Facilitate tax refunds: Charles de Gaulle Airport is equipped with automatic tax refund stations available in Chinese language (PABLO kiosks) to simplify the tax refund procedures and reduce waiting time.
Mobile Payment facilities: to enhance the Chinese travellers’ shopping experience and to reduce cash transactions, more and more French operators have planned to implement a Chinese mobile payment platform (more than 650 million users). This mobile payment solution is now available across 83 outlets in the Paris Airport duty-free area and across one famous Parisian department store.
4.8.5 Key solutions
France has always been one of the most popular medium- to long-haul destinations among Chinese tourists. The number of Chinese arrivals for sightseeing and shopping is on the increase year by year. However, under the impact of terrorist attacks, the number of Chinese visitors and consequently tourism receipts in France decreased in 2016. In the face of market changes, France has actively taken various measures to regain Chinese tourists, which are mainly reflected in the following aspects: –– France has, on the one hand increased marketing investments in the Chinese market, and on the other hand, enforced a number of policies to facilitate Chinese visitors, including shortening the visa processing time, adding more visa centers, launching mobile fingerprint collection services, and strengthening security; –– In view of the increasing needs for independent travels and in-depth travels among Chinese tourists, France has refined and further divided destinations, to meet the needs of Chinese arrivals for in-depth understanding of destinations. At the same time, the country has rolled out themed products to provide better experience for Chinese tourists; and –– To better receive Chinese visitors, France has introduced more facilitation services, such as destination and service information in Chinese on China’s social media platforms, mobile payment services, and automatic tax rebate services. In addition, trainings on how to receive Chinese visitors are developed for local tourism service practitioners.
4.9 Switzerland
Switzerland is a pioneer in the development of tourism in the world, while tourism is a pivotal industry in its national economy. In the past two hundred years of tourism history, Switzerland, with its beautiful scenery and excellent services, has been positioned as a travel paradise for many tourists. The small and exquisite country has long been a favourite tourist destination for Chinese nationals. More and more Chinese visitors come to the country, regardless of whether via http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 connected tours in conjunction with France, Italy or other European countries or in-depth tours just for this country alone. With the successful marketing and promotion activities undertaken by Switzerland Tourism to attract Chinese tourists, Switzerland has made remarkable achievements in the penetration of the Chinese market. In 2015, Chinese tourist arrivals recorded a total of 110 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
1.38 million overnight stays, up by a robust 33% compared with 2014. China has become Switzerland’s fourth largest source market of visitor arrivals.47
4.9.1 Policies and planning
Sustainable tourism development strategy
As a competitive tourism destination, Switzerland has a high level of tourism development based on quality services for which Switzerland is rightly reputed. Long-term, sustainable development strategies are forged for the tourism industry, and strict ecological protection policies are enforced, to ensure sustained growth. The tourism policy in Switzerland is reviewed and adjusted periodically based on the analysis of the structural situation of Swiss tourism and the future tourism strategy. The tourism policy is implemented on the basis of four-year programmes, which addresses structural challenges and provides support to tourism development with targeted actions and additional funding. The Tourism Impulse Programme 2016–2019 has decided on four approaches to overcome the challenges of the strong Swiss franc to regain competitiveness: modernisation of the accommodation sector, strengthening of quality and product development, optimization of destination structures and reinforcement of the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge.48
China: a priority market for Switzerland
Switzerland Tourism set up its Beijing office in 1999. In 2004, Switzerland was one of the first European countries to be granted the ADS status. With the increase of Chinese tourist arrivals in recent years, the country has repositioned China from a “strategic growth market”49 to a “priority market”50. In accordance with in-depth analysis of the Chinese market and tourist surveys, such as their impressions of Switzerland and what they like about Switzerland, Switzerland Tourism has tailor-made a series of tourism products and customized marketing activities for the Chinese market. Revolving around China’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics, ST has been promoting winter tourism in China for several consecutive years, with a focus on classical winter destinations. Different products and services have been launched for different niche markets like ski lovers and snow lovers.
Visa policies
The Swiss visa department has been committed to meeting customer needs and provides the most convenient and effective services to Chinese consumers. Short stay individual visa applications of Chinese nationals to Switzerland are being processed within 48 hours at the Embassy. In addition to the embassies in Beijing, consulates general in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, Switzerland successively opened new visa application centers in Shenyang, Wuhan, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chongqing, Changsha, Fuzhou, Shenzhen, Kunming, Jinan and Xi’an in 2016 in its efforts to facilitate visa application for Switzerland-bound Chinese travellers and businesses http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
47 World Tourism Organization (2017b), p. 782.
48 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2016), ‘Switzerland’, Tourism Trends and Policies 2016, OECD, Paris, pp. 284–285.
49 Switzerland Tourism (2012), 2012 Annual Report, p. 7 (online), available at: http://corner.stnet.ch (16-06-2017).
50 Switzerland Tourism (2015), 2015 Annual Report, p. 8 (online), available at: http://corner.stnet.ch (16-06-2017). Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 111
and pick up these fast-growing outbound markets in tier 2 cities. Moreover, Switzerland has also put into use mobile biometry devices to facilitate the issuance of visas for Chinese citizens.51
4.9.2 Product development
In Switzerland, Chinese tourists choose experiential tours, such as climbing snow-capped mountains, taking boat trips of Swiss lakes, staying in secluded towns and B&Bs at the foot of Alps, to enjoy the picturesque scenery, local way of life and breathe in natural fresh air.
Precision marketing with segmented products
With regard to the marketing efforts in China, Switzerland Tourism does not merely focus on growing tourist numbers, but is more concerned about changes in the market and demands of Chinese consumers. Given the increasing maturity of Chinese tourists with more diversified demands and the marked growth of independent travel, Switzerland Tourism breaks down the Chinese market into different segments. For example, summer tourists are divided into those who prefer sight seeing tours, outdoor enthusiasts, and cultural lovers, while winter visitors are classified into sightseeing, snow lovers and ski enthusiasts. Accordingly, different tourism products are developed for distinct consumer groups, from high-end to economical ones, to meet the diversified requirements of more mature Chinese visitors and the needs of the expanding independent travellers. In 2014, after analysing China’s winter tourism market and summarizing promotion experience in the past two winters, Switzerland Tourism launched two winter vacation products for the Chinese market: “White Winter” and “Pure Skiing”. “White Winter” series products focus on snow fun and experiential activities that can be done in winter, while “Pure Skiing” products target primarily at professional ski lovers. Such a way of product segmentation can better meet the differentiated needs of Chinese consumers, and enable more people to learn about the fun of skiing in Switzerland while cultivating the professional consumer base.
Leading product innovation with themed campaign
In terms of product innovation, Switzerland Tourism introduces new themed campaigns each year to attract more tourists. The theme for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 was mountain tours, sports and leisure tours, family tours and green tours, respectively. In 2011 the focus was on independent travel, while 2012 marked the year of water, introducing water-related tourism projects so that visitors can get a glimpse of the charming Swiss lakes and mountains. The year 2015 ushered in the “Grand Tour of Switzerland”, inviting Chinese visitors to experience the sceneries of Switzerland through the “Grand Train Tour” and “Grand Road Tour”.
Training for tour operators
The Chinese offices of Switzerland Tourism attach great importance to the cooperation with http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 Chinese tour operators, and develops different channels and platforms based on the different needs of tour operators and provides them with timely and comprehensive tourism training, tourism information and services.
51 Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Visa Requirements (online), available at: www.eda.admin.ch (16-06-2017). 112 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Switzerland Tourism organizes promotional and marketing activities for travel industry practitioners each year, and has compiled the comprehensive and detailed Swiss Tourism Sales Manual52 and customizes training courses for travel agents, to encourage and help travel agencies to innovate Swiss products and routes. To familiarize travel agents with Switzerland, Switzerland Tourism opened an online learning course for training Swiss travel specialists in 2006, and more than 3,000 people have been trained since its inception. The training offered to travel agents and service information specially compiled for travel agencies are valuable tools that provide access to rich and quality products and services to customers.
Cooperating with tour operators in product development
In terms of tourism product development, Switzerland Tourism closely works with Chinese outbound tour operators to extract a wealth of tourism resources in Switzerland and offer themed products with brand new experiences for visitors. In 2013, Switzerland Tourism launched a traditional Swiss culture travel campaign together with a dozen domestic distributors, incorporating traditional elements into existing products, such that Chinese visitors may have a glimpse of authentic Swiss way of life, culture and customs. In 2015, the “Grand Tour Switzerland” themed campaign was introduced with two themes of “Natural Outdoor Experience” and “Urban Culture and Art”. Accordingly, Chinese tour operators launched products and routes by packing elements of the Grand Tour of Switzerland, giving a new perspective and method for tourists to discover Switzerland.
In 2016, Switzerland Tourism cemented a strategic partnership agreement with China’s leading outbound tour operator CAISSA, to carry out close in-depth cooperation. The two parties have jointly launched a series of themed products such as spa treatment, Alpine hiking and Jungfrau skiing, covering hiking, outdoor, skiing, health, parenting and other related products. To further spread the word of Swiss skiing products, Switzerland Tourism signed a strategic cooperation agreement with a brand of CAISSA, GoSnow, and the renowned Wanlong Ski Resort, jointly promoting Swiss ski resorts to Chinese consumers. Switzerland Tourism and GoSnow held the “Swiss Ski Carnival” at Wanlong Ski Resort in November 2015.
4.9.3 Marketing
Online- and offline-integrated marketing
Switzerland Tourism has adopted an online/offline integrated marketing strategy in the Chinese market with carefully crafted activities such as themed press releases, on-site experiences, online and offline interaction, tourism product recommendation, partner promotion etc. A variety of channels are utilized to effectively disseminate the themed tourism products, colourful tourism resources and attractive destinations of Switzerland. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 In 2014, Switzerland Tourism, in joint efforts with major tour operators, launched the “360-degree Swiss scenery” promotional campaign with an emphasis on panoramic travel routes and products. Through experiential activities, the fascinating sceneries and rich tourism resources of Switzerland
52 Switzerland Tourism and Travel Weekly, Switzerland Guide, Sales Manual for Travel Professionals (online), available at: www.tajtravels.net (15-06-2017). Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 113
were popularized among the public in a fun and entertaining manner. Those participating in the activities were given a chance to win gifts prepared by Switzerland Tourism and discounts offered by 53 Swiss tourism partners. The campaign also recommended a book titled Best of Switzerland53 (literal translation) written by four female trend opinion leaders. The book describes experience of travel in Switzerland from a female perspective and leads readers to embark on a panoramic journey of Switzerland, from winter to summer, from natural sceneries to customs and cultural landscape.
Social media marketing
With the increasing popularity of social media, Switzerland Tourism opened its official Sina Weibo in October 2009, tweeting about beautiful photos and activities and interacting with followers. In 2011, Switzerland Tourism and Sina blog channel held an event for grass-root bloggers. With the chance to win a dream trip to Switzerland, the competition required bloggers to posts photos and provide testimonies in less than 300 Chinese characters about travel in Switzerland
In 2014, Switzerland Tourism launched the “i-Switzerland” social media integration page on its official Chinese website MySwitzerland.com54. The page collects content about Switzerland posted on the site and it on Weibo, blogs and video websites for viewers to understand more about Switzerland. Users can subscribe to contents that interest them, to timely find latest news reported on social media with a relation to the country.
At the beginning of 2016, Switzerland Tourism opened its WeChat account. The account is a real- time advertising and promotion platform. Switzerland Tourism posts instant travel information, practical travelling tips, featured activities and recommended routes for the reference of travellers particularly independent travellers such as travelling tips in Jungfrau Region, nine-day self-driving grand tour of Switzerland, introduction on Switzerland cities and so on. The account has helped to raise the awareness and profile of Swiss tourism and boost arrivals.
Digital influencer and opinion leaders
Social networking websites are becoming increasingly popular in China with ever expanding influence and audience base. In view of this, Switzerland Tourism fully capitalizes on digital influencers and opinion leaders in destination marketing. In 2010, it forged a partnership with an innovative photographer and a popular Sina blogger Deng Bu Lu Gu. Under the funding of Switzerland Tourism, the blogger travelled to Switzerland seven times, and then published a book titled Into Switzerland55. The book describes experience of travel in Switzerland from the perspective of a woman, a foodie and advocates a new way of life.
In 2011, for hiking lovers and independent travellers, Switzerland Tourism joined forces with Beijing Publishing Group and published the book Rambling Switzerland56 written by two influential travellers. The two authors are super popular bloggers of Sina travel channel, with a total hit of http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
53 Switzerland Tourism (2015), Best of Switzerland (online), available at: www.issuu.com (15-06-2017).
54 For more information see: www.myswitzerland.com/zh-cn/home.html.
55 Deng, B.L.G. (2000), Into Switzerland (Chinese version), Beijing Publishing Group, Beijing.
56 Li, Y.F. and Pu, H.Y.Y (1991), Rambling Switzerland, CITIC Publishing Club, Beijing. 114 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
more than 70 million and a huge fan base. They jointly completed the book after hiking across Switzerland. The book provides travel tips and describes destinations in a humorous style. In addition to the printed version, e-versions of the book are also available for iPad, to cater to the online reading public, which has attracted the attention of many fans.
Celebrity endorsement
In 2016, the Chinese soap opera, Dear Translator57, which starred Chinese actor Mr. Huang Xuan became a big sensation in China. Audiences delighted in the elegant style of Mr. Huang Xuan which was a perfect match for the natural, cultural, artistic, and romantic Switzerland. Due to his great influence, Switzerland Tourism invited him to be the spokesperson to attract the Chinese market to Switzerland.
Media promotion
Switzerland Tourism values cooperation with the media industry in China, and organizes press releases for the media every year to communicate the latest news and developments of Swiss tourism. At the same time, Switzerland Tourism invites Chinese reporters for field visits to Switzerland to write featured reports. These activities have generated good publicity and guidance effects. Switzerland Tourism created a quarterly magazine for the industry and media Swiss Letters, publishing the latest trends of Swiss tourism. Moreover, Switzerland Tourism has also established an online picture library, so that the media can conveniently get photos to go with their reports about Switzerland.
4.9.4 Travel facilitation
Language facilitation services
Switzerland Tourism has made great efforts to provide information about Switzerland in Chinese, which symbolizes the customer-oriented service concept. It launched Chinese website in 2002 which provides travel information and travellers may download discount coupons, plan their itinerary and book hotels on the website.
Switzerland Tourism has also compiled travel guides for Chinese visitors. The winter travel pocket guide contains not only winter vacation suggestions, practical information and ski tips, but also recommended classical destinations and discounts. Meanwhile, the summer travel pocket guide mainly introduces outdoor activities, diversified artistic events and practical tips about travel in summer, and recommends classical routes as packed in the “Grand Tour of Switzerland”. The art and city travel guide mainly recommends urban cultural attractions, top museums and highlighted exhibitions. In 2016, Switzerland Tourism and China Light Industry Press jointly published the Guide to Switzerland. In addition to recommended attractions and practical tips, the book also http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 contains self-driving routes, to provide reference for a grand tour around Switzerland.
57 “Dear Translator”, 2016, created by Wang Ying and produced by Croton Media, LeECO and Jay Walk Studio. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 115
As the number of ski customers increases year by year, the ten major ski resorts of Switzerland offer Chinese-speaking coaching services based on prior booking, while 30 ski coaches and volunteers are ready to welcome and service Chinese groups and individual customers at any time. During the snow season, the Swiss Ski Info WeChat account gives one-on-one consulting services to travel agencies and individuals, answering their questions regarding ski schools, equipment rental, tickets, etc.
4.9.5 Technological development
Switzerland Tourism provides comprehensive and convenient information series especially for mobile Internet applications. The Swiss Snow Report application enables visitors to keep abreast of the latest snow and weather conditions, and can be connected to an Apple Watch and other devices. The “i-Switzerland” social media integration platform has both a web and mobile phone version, to help users screen latest Swiss-related information on China’s new media platforms.
Additionally Switzerland Tourism often capitalizes on new visual technologies to create immersive experience for consumers. Such an innovative way is conducive to attract travellers. For example, together with Audi City Beijing and SkyTechSport, Switzerland Tourism created the virtual reality 3D ski simulation experience during the winter of 2015. Through the advanced multimedia technologies of Audi City Beijing, ski lovers can experience the simulation of skiing in Switzerland.
4.9.6 Key solutions
Switzerland used to be a classic destination in European multi-destination tours. With the growth of China’s middle class and the rapid development of independent travel, Switzerland has timely grasped market changes and further taps into potentials of the Chinese market, to attract more in-depth and independent travellers and increase their spending in Switzerland. Its marketing experience can be summarized as follows: –– Switzerland has conducted surveys for Chinese tourists to clearly position destination images based on tourists’ understanding and cognition of the destinations and advertise appealing tourism resources and products to Chinese consumers; –– As for product marketing, Switzerland Tourism develops different themed products for different market segments and introduces a new theme for marketing campaigns each year, through which it exploits more in-depth Swiss tourism resources and related products and promotes them in the Chinese market, constantly bringing in new experiences and products to Chinese consumers; and –– In terms of marketing activities, Switzerland Tourism utilizes online and offline integrated marketing channels. Along with the development and expansion of social networks in China, it takes full advantage of the influence of social media and carries out marketing activities targeting specific consumer groups. It also leverages on Internet influencer marketing to http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 effectively convey features and attractiveness of Swiss destinations. 116 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
4.10 Los Angeles (United States of America)
Nicknamed the “City of Angels”, Los Angeles is the largest city in the west of the United States of America and one of the most popular tourist destinations for Chinese visitors. The number of Chinese visitors increased from 470,000 in 2012 to 824,000 in 2015, which surpassed Canada, making China the second largest long-haul visitor source market. In 2016, Los Angeles recorded more than 1 million Chinese tourist arrivals, the first city in the United States of America to cross the 1 million mark, representing an increase of 22% over the previous year. In terms of tourism consumption, Chinese tourists spent USD 1.28 billion in 2015, ranking the first among all foreign receipts.58
In 2006, Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board (LATCB) was the first American city to set up an official office in Beijing. The productive promotional activities of LATCB in recent years have made great contributions to the surge of Chinese arrivals to Los Angeles.
4.10.1 Product development
Quality tourism products are the key to attract tourists in the long run. LATCB has consistently attached great importance to the development and innovation of tourism products. In addition to integrated marketing campaigns and innovative marketing methods, LATCB has tailored products and services for diversified travel features and needs of Chinese visitors, targeting both first-time comers and repeat visitors.
Developing featured products for different market segments
LATCB greatly values the study of the segmented markets and innovatively realizes inter-industry cooperation in product development. Los Angeles is the world’s science and technology center and boasts advanced and renowned medical resources and medical levels, with many world leading medical centers. Medical tourism has seen rapid growth in China in the past decade. In response, LATCB has launched medical tourism products. During the visit of the Mayor of Los Angeles in 2015, LATCB, five top local medical institutions and China Southern Airlines jointly unveiled several medical tourism products for the Chinese market. To tie in with the promotion of these medical products, LATCB’s Chinese website added a medical tourism column, describing in detail relevant information and feature services of these five local medical institutions. Moreover, LATCB further promoted these products on the industry reception meeting organized in China via digital marketing tools.
Featured theme products are also a focus of LATCB’s attention. In the context of China–US Tourism Year 2016, LATCB introduced self-driving tourism products for China’s new-generation travellers. The United States of America has history of a car culture with an extensive highway system throughout the country. Los Angeles has the most extended expressway network and largest car http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 ownership. Renting a car allows visitors to explore the picturesque scenery and unique charms of the city. This has proven to be especially attractive to independent travellers. Additionally, Los Angeles has one of the greatest number of museums in the United States and LATCB
58 Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, Los Angeles Tourism by Numbers, 2016 Quick Facts (online), available at: www.discoverlosangeles.com (16-06-2017). Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 117
introduced the special tour of museums amid the China–US Tourism Year 2016, which caught the attention of many history, culture and art lovers.
Los Angeles is also a basketball fan’s paradise, offering not only sports star Kobe Bryant but also most trending NBA (National Basketball Association) sports venues. When Chinese famous basketball player Yao Ming started to play in NBA, many Chinese basketball fans were attracted to NBA games and stars. It would be a very welcoming experience for them to watch a game at the NBA venue. To effectively capitalize on these resources, LATCB introduced sports tourism products with the theme of “LA Live, Come Play With Us” in 2008. LATCB worked closely with NBA organizers and Lakers to book the hard to get tickets to Lakers games for Chinese fans, which boosted the demand for the sport themed products to Los Angeles.
LATCB also worked with China’s leading tour operators and jointly unveiled New Year float parade, New Year at Disney’s, and other featured products, which were welcomed by Chinese visitors.
Developing in-depth independent travel products
In 2016, LATCB proposed to “Travel Like a Local”, intending to bring authentic “American” style to Chinese FIT visitors. The itinerary and specific routes of these in-depth products are different from similar traditional products, thereby greatly enriching the variety of Los Angeles tourism products. Moreover, other in-depth tourism products were also launched such as experiential study tour to cover the needs of different consumer groups.
LATCB has also developed some innovative tourism products. In May 2016, two brand new independent travel routes were presented to commemorate the opening of the Metro Expo Line Extension and the three-year anniversary of the “Car Free LA” campaign. One route was called “Car Free City Center”, guiding visitors to experience the history and culture of Los Angeles’ city center without a car. The other route was “Metro Expo Line Discovery Tour”, where visitors could take the metro line from city center to Santa Monica State Beach, fully immersing themselves in the styles of different regions and discovering the infinite charm of communities along the way.
Developing training plans for travel agencies
In 2015, LATCB rolled out the “LA Angel Academy” training programme, an online travel specialist training course for Chinese travel agents and travel enthusiasts. The course introduces the unique tourism resources of Los Angeles and the latest and detailed travel information. The course also contains recommended featured attractions for Chinese visitors, which can serve as a reference for travel agencies in product design and route packaging. Those completing the course are granted with a certificate and the “Smart Angel” title by the LATCBA. Since inception, the course has trained more than 4,000 people, with over 1.2 million views. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 118 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
4.10.2 Marketing59
The success of Los Angeles tourism in the Chinese market is not merely attributable to its rich tourism resources, sound transportation system and quality services. Rather, targeted destination marketing has greatly fueled the growth of its inbound tourism. LATCB has adopted an integrated marketing strategy revolving around the “Hello LA” theme. The unique marketing model encompasses diversified destination and image promotional activities, new media marketing and celebrity endorsement.
Accurately selecting target markets
Los Angeles is the largest gateway connecting the United States of America and Asia and has the second largest Chinese community in America. With over 60 flights to/ and from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, Los Angeles boasts the largest number of flights with China. As Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou contribute the largest outbound traffic in China, direct flights with these cities enable Los Angeles to become a transportation hub and facilitate the unfolding of targeted marketing activities. At the same time, LATCB starts to penetrate tier 2 and tier 3 cities in the past two years, and has opened direct flights with Nanjing, Changsha, Hangzhou and Jinan gradually from 2015.
After establishing an office in Beijing in 2006, LATCB set up Shanghai and Guangzhou offices in 2013 and 2015 respectively. It also plans to open a fourth office in Chengdu in June 2017, to reach to China’s south-west markets. As an important bridge linking Los Angeles and Chinese consumers and the main body to enforce the city’s marketing strategies, LATCB has carried out a variety of online and offline promotional activities targeting the Chinese market.
Online- and offline-integrated marketing
LATCB primarily channels its advertisement efforts in Shanghai, such as Pudong International Airport, important transfer stations of subways and buses, to enhance brand influence. On screens throughout the airport, Hollywood logos, fascinating red carpets, and fashionable shopping scenes are broadcasted in Shanghai Pudong International Airport that has a throughput of 200,000 people each day, the subway hub People’s Square Station and over 200 buses, generating strong impacts. The advertisements have effectively covered the target consumer groups of Los Angeles while strengthening its visibility and profile. At the same time, Brand USA and LATCB jointly built the “Los Angeles Show Room”. The pavilion uses huge colour pictures and unique multimedia methods to showcase the culture and tourism resources of Los Angeles, providing another window for Beijing tourists to learn about the city.
As for online marketing, LATCB takes full advantage of new media and combines destination image construction with brand communication. At the beginning of 2014, LATCB launched its official Chinese website helloLA.cn as an important constituent and carrier of the “Hello China” http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 integrated marketing campaign. HelloLA.cn describes in detail the highlights and features of Los Angeles, and innovatively introduces third-party travel experience sharing platform to showcase the authentic visitor experiences in real time. This adds to the authenticity and persuasiveness
59 Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 119
of the marketing activities, while enhancing the personalized interaction between destinations and visitors. Moreover, to tie in with the “Hello China” campaign, the website adds a special experience column for Chinese tourists. Other China-specific marketing campaign includes Mandarin services at attractions, shopping centers and coaches, Chinese cuisines, Chinese travel guides, and download of latest coupons. Weibo and WeChat are in the forefront of promotions. LATCB is among the first tourism administrations to open Weibo and WeChat accounts in China, and has also opened a WeChat public account dedicated to travel practitioners. As of March 2017, its Weibo followers reached 1.462 million. LATCB interacts well with its followers through various activities on Weibo to spread the Los Angeles brand (LA brand).
Diversified promotional activities
Hollywood blockbusters are loved by many people and are integral to the LA brand image. In 2014, in joint efforts with China’s video sites Youku and Tudou, LATCB released the Travel with Movies promotional video. The video is a documentary in which stars travel around in Los Angeles showcasing the city’s film culture. The video achieved great success, with more than 300 million exposures and 19.94 million hits.
In 2016, LATCB again teamed up with Youku and launched Travel with Food and Wine, broadcasted on the Youku travel channel. The Chinese gourmet and famous electronic singer-songwriter led viewers to embark on a journey of flavors at restaurants and bars across in Los Angeles. The programme enables Chinese viewers to have a glimpse of a variety of delicacies, interesting features and multiple spending options in Los Angeles. In October 2016, LATCB and CCTV-2 jointly rolled out the food reality show Greatest Chefs special Los Angeles episode which was aired on CCTV-2 and major video websites. Together with the host, audiences explore the rich and diverse urban landscape and unique food culture of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles episodes of Travel with Food and Wine and Greatest Chefs are highly sought after by Chinese viewers particularly food lovers.
LATCB is among the first overseas destinations that made use of the Moments function of WeChat for advertising. WeChat is undeniably the most popular and most active form of social media in China. Based on the ecosystem of WeChat public accounts, Moments advertising posted original ads with original contents in WeChat Moments as a friend does. This can precisely push the ad to target audiences on the basis of WeChat users on the one hand, and further spread the ad via social networking on the other, thereby maximizing advertising value. Advertising in Moments is a new social advertising model in China. Leveraging on the advantages of WeChat, LATCB unveiled a series of precision marketing campaigns that advertises Los Angeles as the “preferred US destination” amid the context of the China–US Tourism Year 2016.
Didi Chuxing, a major ride-sharing company and full-service mobile transportation platform, entered the United States of America market in 2016. In view of this, LATCB held joint Weibo promotional activities together with Didi Chuxing. The two parties re-tweeted events of each other http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 and organized a variety of activities to improve exposure and participation. Meanwhile, gifts and travel products with Los Angeles logos were presented to prize winners as a way of attracting more viewers and optimizing its profile. 120 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Raising awareness through themed marketing activities
LATCB attaches great importance to online themed marketing activities as a way of capturing the attention of visitors and generating interest. In June 2016, it organized a recruitment campaign for “LA Chief Experience Officer”. Two candidates were elected as Los Angeles’ Chief Experience Officer and invited to visit the city and have a taste of its endless entertainment activities and cultural features on behalf of travel enthusiasts. The Chief Experience Officers then shared their experience live on social media, fully demonstrating the charisma of the “City of Angles”. The activity generated a great buzz on the Internet and enabled more Chinese visitors to learn about the city in-depth.
LATCB often launches online themed activities through Sina Weibo and other social networking websites, such as the “Your LA, Your Story” and “Spontaneous Romance: Happy Moments in LA” activities in 2014. Any user may share their Los Angeles stories via photos and texts on Weibo and have a chance to win a big prize. Through these activities, visitors have learnt about the landmarks and attractions in Los Angeles, while LATCB has significantly boosted the traffic and visibility of its website.
Driving the market through celebrity endorsement
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, led a trade delegation to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing to promote Los Angeles tourism in November 2014. In view of this, LATCB launched a series of marketing events and utilized social media marketing means and interactions with the public for promotions. The event marketing and sensation caused by the Mayor’s visit have helped to publicize Los Angeles among the public, with remarkable results.
LATCB organized a series of pre-warming activities prior to the arrival of the Mayor on WeChat, Sina Weibo and other new media, and then broadcasted the Mayor’s visit live to expand its influence. In addition, the Mayor’s visit was cleverly intertwined with Los Angeles’ culture, art, entertainment, business and trade. Los Angeles tourism resources corresponding to cities visited by the Mayor were pushed on social media, to enhance the awareness of the LA brand among Chinese visitors and position Los Angeles as the world’s entertainment, culture and trade center.
As for specific marketing means, the journey of the Mayor was not reported through traditional media press releases, but through live broadcasting on social media with real-time interactions with the public. Such an innovative way takes full advantage of the instant, efficient, and interactive features of social media, which resonates well among the 80s and 90s and hence maximizes marketing effects. Upon completion of the visit, Mayor Eric Garcetti recorded a special episode of the Chinese dialogue programme Friends60. During the interview, the Mayor shared his experience of travel in Los Angeles, thus bringing the city closer to Chinese viewers. The programme has helped to generate a persistent brand influence. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 The campaign around the Mayor’s visit integrates brand image building with product development and organically combines event marketing, content marketing, online/offline multi-channel marketing, and interactive marketing, a breakthrough over traditional marketing models.
60 “Friends”, 1994/2004, created by David Crane, Marta Kauffman and produced by NBC. Successful practices and solutions to penetrate the Chinese outbound tourism market 121
Capitalizing on hit films for marketing
Chinese millennials are often inspired to travel after seeing a music concert and scenes from favourite films and soap operas. LATCB has achieved success in marketing through film marketing to attract Chinese tourists.
The 2017 Oscar-award winning film, La La Land61, aired in China on 14 February 2017, but had already received widespread attention even before its release. Filmed and highlighting the city’s attractions the film greatly appealed to Chinese fans. LATCB organized screenings for media, travel agencies and online travel agencies in several cities of China, and gave out film tickets to fans through social media. Screenings are a very direct way for travel practitioners and tourists to understand Los Angeles. In addition, LATCB complied the La La Land Exploration Guide62, to help tourists find scenes in the film quickly. With good preparation, as well as online/offline integrated marketing, the La La Land marketing campaign was successful in appealing to the Chinese market.
4.10.3 Travel facilitation
To further optimize the level of services to Chinese tourists, LATCB launched facilitation measures and services.
Los Angeles interactive map
LATCB has specially developed a unique, interactive map for Chinese visitors to facilitate their travels. The map has schematic effects and precision location functions. Each destination area on the map, in addition to textual and picture introductions, also contains a special video, so that visitors can learn more about the destination before their trip. The map includes videos of 33 communities in Los Angeles that are tailor-made to Chinese tourists. In addition, the map displays many hotels in the city and tourists can directly book a hotel on the map.63
Official Visitor’s Guide
Since 2014, LATCB has released the Chinese version of the Official Visitor’s Guide64 providing basic information and practical tips about travel in Los Angeles. In addition to official tourism information and basic profile of the city, the guide also presents practical information on hotels, transportation and visas and useful tips. The electronic version of the guide is available on the Chinese website of LATCB for online reading or downloading, while the printed versions are accessible at travel agencies or LATCB Chinese offices.65
http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 61 “La La Land”, 2016, directed by Damien Chazelle.
62 Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, La La Land Exploration Guide (online), available at: www.discoverlosangeles.com (15-06-2017).
63 For more information see: www.hellola.cn/map/.
64 Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, LA’s Official Visitor Guide (online), available at: www.discoverlosangeles.com (15-06-2017).
65 For more information see: www.hellola.cn/travel_trade_brochure. 122 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
4.10.4 Technological developments
Virtual reality platform for meeting planners
To allow meeting planners to better understand Los Angeles venues and boost the city’s business tourism, Meet LA, a branch of LATCB, launched the “VR/360-degree” video campaign and the Virtual Discovery LA website in 2016. Meeting planners can learn about Los Angeles’ venues and event places, as well as functional spaces contained therein through virtual reality technology and 360-degree videos, which would be helpful in their meeting itinerary design. The website also enables viewers to see communities, the graffiti on the art blocks, outdoor cafes in Hollywood farm markets, and the Tiffany store located in Beverly Hills Rodeo Boulevard. Meet LA hopes that virtual reality experience may bring Los Angeles to the fingertips of consumers.
Fingerprint and iris technologies for identity check at airports
The biotech company Clear is about to enable fingerprint and iris technologies at 22 airports in the United States of America, including Los Angeles, to check the identities of visitors, in a hope to facilitate their passage at airports and save time. The new technology was piloted in Los Angeles’ airports at the beginning of 2017. Upon application, travellers may pass the airport security check quickly and seamlessly, thereby accelerating the security checks and reducing queuing time.
The success of Los Angeles tourism in the Chinese market is not only related to its rich tourism resources in the context of the film culture, the sound transport system and tourism hubs, and the quality tourism supporting services, but also to its targeted destination marketing models.
4.10.5 Key solutions
–– LATCB takes advantage of new media and carries out integrated marketing for specific market segments by combining destination image building with branding and in-depth product packaging. In this way, Los Angeles’ awareness and reputation in the Chinese market are enhanced; –– In view of the personalized and diversified needs of Chinese tourists, LATCB not only carries out integrated and innovative marketing, but also customizes tourism products and services for Chinese visitors, to build the LA tourism brand; and –– LATCB organically integrates event marketing, content marketing, online/offline multi- channel integrated marketing, and interactive marketing with the public and the industry, thereby creating a brand-new model for destination marketing. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 123
Chapter 5 Recommendations and conclusion
Summary This chapter summarizes the development trends of Chinese outbound tourism market. It shows that Chinese outbound tourism has a great potential for growth. Global destinations are very optimistic about the future growth of Chinese outbound tourism market and have been competing to attract Chinese tourists. This chapter also provides recommendations on strategic planning and marketing approaches when entering and expanding the Chinese outbound tourism market. It is important for destinations entering the Chinese market to understand the Chinese market and tourist characteristics, develop targeted product and market plan, build relationship with Chinese trade partners and promote the destinations through cross-media channels.
Key words – Growth; –– Potential; –– Competition; and –– Strategic approaches.
Key messages – Chinese outbound tourism has been developed at fast pace with double digit growth rate over the past decade; –– Chinese consumer demand and outbound tourism product structure have been undergoing changes with new trends; –– The growth of the Chinese outbound travel market and the market potential has generated tremendous business opportunities for international tourism destinations; –– Destinations are recommended to take strategic approaches with tailored plan when penetrating Chinese tourism market; –– It is very important for destinations to study and understand the Chinese market and tourist characteristics and get the destination prepared when receiving large amount of Chinese tourists; –– Destinations are recommended to develop phased market penetration plan and tailored product strategy to leverage destination tourism resources and competitive advantages; and –– Destinations are encouraged to develop localized media plan with emphasis on the Chinese social media network.
5.1 Recommendations: market solutions and approaches to attract Chinese tourists
The number of Chinese tourists has increased greatly in many destinations around the world. The competition among different destinations has become much fiercer to attract the Chinese market. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
To penetrate Chinese tourism market, destinations are recommended to take strategic approaches: –– Study and understand the market and tourist characteristics; –– Prepare the destination to receive Chinese tourists; –– Develop targeted product and market plans; and –– Build relationship with Chinese trade partners and promote the destinations through different media channels. 124 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
5.1.1 Understand Chinese tourism market
To develop a successful market penetration plan, it is essential to study the current situation of Chinese outbound tourism market, understand the structure of source market, learn the characteristics of Chinese tourists, analyse competitive advantages and identify opportunities and barriers for market entry.
China has a vast territory and unbalanced economic development and population distribution. Chinese outbound travellers from different geographic regions exhibit great differences in terms of travel habits, spending behaviours, and tour product preference etc. Some destinations have developed different marketing strategies in China to better target travellers from different parts of China. Destinations are recommended to conduct market studies to understand the relevant conditions, structures and dynamics of Chinese outbound tourism market, analyse the market segmentation and identify target customer groups. It is also very helpful to carry out Chinese tourist surveys to learn Chinese tourists’ perception of the destination, their travelling behaviours and their needs when developing marketing and product plans.
5.1.2 Prepare destinations and suppliers on receiving Chinese tourists: provide Chinese friendly services
Although the growth of Chinese outbound tourism has generated tremendous market opportunities for destinations, some destinations have encountered problems with the arrival of many Chinese tourists. Before entering the Chinese market, destinations need to evaluate if their local service levels and infrastructure capacities are ready to receive Chinese tourists. Due to culture and language difference, destinations also need to examine if local service providers have taken measures to facilitate the stay of Chinese tourists and provide a friendly and warm environment to welcome their stay. Following are some areas where destinations could better prepare to attract Chinese tourists:
Chinese language services: 1. Chinese-speaking tour guides; 2. Chinese-speaking service staff at airports; 3. Chinese guidebooks; 4. Chinese signs or warnings; 5. Chinese websites with important local information; and 6. Other services in Chinese.
Convenient services: 1. Free Wi-Fi services; 2. Introduce elements of Chinese cuisine to hotel menus and at full service restaurants; 3. Amenities such as slippers, tea kettles and a selection of Chinese teas in guestrooms; http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 4. Accept payment services and credit cards of Chinese companies and/or support online/ mobile payment; and 5. CNY–local currency exchange service.
Many Chinese tourists take overseas trip for the first time. They have difficulty in understanding local language and are unfamiliar with local customs. Destinations need to ensure that destination’s Recommendations and conclusion 125
residents and service staff are prepared to be patient and helpful when answering questions or explaining requirements.
5.1.3 China Outbound Tourism Quality Service Certification Program (QSC Program)1
China Outbound Tourism Quality Service Certification Program (QSC Program) is Chinese tourism industry’s most recognized quality certification programme targeting overseas tourism suppliers (travel services, hotels, shopping stores, restaurants, tourist attractions, transportations, financial services, airports etc.). The mission of QSC Program is to help Chinese travellers attain a trusted, comfortable and quality overseas travel experience; and help overseas quality suppliers enter China market and have bigger business growth.
QSC is a non-profit programme, which means destinations tourism suppliers can be certified by QSC Program without paying any service fee. QSC is also an important programme to help destination tourism suppliers get ready in receiving Chinese tourists and promote business more efficiently in the Chinese market.
Joining QSC Program, destinations tourism suppliers can be identified as capable of providing quality and satisfying services to Chinese travellers, and can be officially promoted to Chinese travellers, Chinese outbound tour operators and travel agencies. Certified by QSC is an efficient way to win the trust of Chinese travellers and buyers.
For tourism destinations, QSC Program is also a good marketing tool that can further increase the brand awareness and attractiveness of the destinations.
5.1.4 Market penetration plan
The competition to attract Chinese tourists has become fiercer among mature destinations. Many destinations have expanded their promotional activities into the tier 2 and tier 3 tourist-generating regions in China. To gain advantages in exploring market potential, destinations should develop a regional penetration plan of China with tailored marketing programmes and activities. Opening local representative offices or marketing offices will help to better carry out regional expansion plans, track tourist demand trends and work closely with local trade partners. Destinations could also take efforts in opening direct flight to facilitate the travelling of tourists from tier 2 regions.
For destinations that are less known to Chinese tourists, it would be helpful to develop a phased market entry plan with primary objective to increase awareness of their destination among Chinese travel trade and tourists. It is recommended that they focus their promotion activities in the tier 1 tourist-generating cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong where experienced travellers are more likely interested in new destinations. For those destinations that have no direct flights http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 to China, it will be more appealing to the Chinese travellers if there are direct flights or charter flights connecting through large port cities of China. It is also essential to work with Chinese trade partners to develop distinctive tour products to attract the Chinese travellers. For those new
1 See also: www.qualitytourism.cn. 126 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
destinations which have not established offices in China, they can entrust marketing companies in China to assist them carry out the promotion at the primary stage when entering the Chinese tourism market, then they can take step by step approach to increase their investment by setting up an office and boosting marketing efforts.
5.1.5 Product development strategy
With the rapid development of china outbound tourism, the market has been undergoing transformation in terms of growth, restructuring and diversifications. Experienced travellers are interested in in-depth tours and customized tours that give them the opportunity to enjoy a better travel experience. While the structure of tour products is dominated by sightseeing, innovative products that meet individualized demand and provide high-quality experiences will become the leading force in the Chinese outbound tourism market.
For destinations that are relatively well known and popular among Chinese tourists, it is important to upgrade product positioning, enrich the contents of destination product offerings and develop new themes to stay ahead of competition. For example, destination could develop leisure and holiday products based on mature sightseeing itineraries to include more contents (e.g., natural landscape and wildlife), Destinations could also develop theme products to offer unique experience and memories or meet personal needs, such as medical tourism, sports tourism, outdoor activities, self-driving, skiing, food and wine, as well as the classic cultural products involving music, painting and art.
Destinations that are relatively new to Chinese tourists, should work closely with Chinese travel trade partners to develop tailored packages that feature quality services and target right customers, such as high-end and experienced Chinese customers in tier 1 tourist-generating regions. These travellers are more likely to explore and experience the uniqueness and natural beauty of new destinations, which will bring differentiated personal experience from the mass travelling destinations.
5.1.6 Cooperation with Chinese travel trade
Understand Chinese distribution network
Chinese outbound tour operators and travel agencies play an important role in the market and can be a good advisor for any destination that seeks to penetrate the Chinese tourism market or attract more Chinese tourists. It is a very effective and productive way to learn the latest market dynamics and obtain useful insights into the Chinese outbound tourism market through partnership with the Chinese travel trade. For new destinations, it is very important to work with the Chinese travel trade to develop tailored products and promotion activities when entering the market. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
The China outbound tourism industry has formed a vertical wholesale and retail distribution system with three types of travel agencies: tourism wholesalers, large full service travel agencies and retail travel agents. Outbound tour wholesalers and large-scale full-service travel agencies are primarily based in tier 1 cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with local branches or retail outlets across the country. Recommendations and conclusion 127
UTour Group Co., Ltd, Beijing CAISSA International Travel Service Co., Ltd, Phoenix Holiday Travel and Huayuan International Travel are some of the major travel agencies that specialize in wholesale outbound tours. China International Travel Services Ltd. (CITS), CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd. and Guangzhilv International Travel Agency are the representatives of the large full service travel agencies.
With the quick development of information technology, giant OTAs have emerged in China. Ctrip.com International Ltd., Tuniu Corporation and Tongcheng Network Technology (LY.com) are the most important online platforms for distributing tour packages and services.
Organize familiarization tours and workshops
To develop relationship with Chinese travel trade and help them better promote destinations, NTAs and NTOs should organize familiarization trips regularly and invite Chinese outbound tour operators to visit destinations to obtain first-hand information and experiences of the product. The familiarization trips will help Chinese travel trade to engage with local tourism suppliers and develop tailored tour package products to Chinese tourism market.
Provide training programmes
To build a strong and productive distribution network, mature destinations can provide regular training for selected travel agencies. As shown by the case studies in Chapter four, many mature destinations have developed comprehensive training programmes with integrated courses to help travel agencies obtain professional knowledge on destinations. Australia’s dedicated travel specialist training programme has trained thousands of Chinese frontline travel agents and enabled Australia to build a widespread and strong distribution network in the Chinese market. Hence, it is important for new destinations to provide regular training for Chinese travel agencies to help them to better understand the destination so that they can serve their customers and promote the destinations more effectively. Together with training courses, destinations are recommended to develop some incentive schemes to encourage more travel consultants to take the training courses and excel in selling the destinations.
5.1.7 Marketing and promotion
Set up representative office or agency
There are various ways to promote destinations in China, which include but are not limited to, attending major exhibitions or forums, or conducting road shows. Better performance can be achieved by establishing local market presence in China. For some mature destinations that have http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 entered Chinese markets for many years, it is essential to set up representative or marketing offices in second tier city hubs to carry out marketing and promotion activities locally.
For new destinations that are not well known in China, it is important to have representation in the market to carry out promotional activities and engage business with the Chinese travel trade. One way to do so is to establish a tourism section in their embassies in China that will be responsible 128 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
for the destination promotion. Another solution is to contract a Chinese local pubic relation firms or a tourism consulting company as an agent to promote a destination to Chinese consumers. Local agencies usually have in-depth knowledge of Chinese tourism industry, a wealth of media resources and a professional marketing team. They can provide tailor-made marketing services to help promote destination to Chinese travel trade and general public.
Increase awareness of destinations with cross-media channels
Most Chinese tourists like travelling to the better-known destinations. Therefore, it is very important for destinations to enhance awareness of a destination and to build a positive image if it intends to attract Chinese tourists. For relatively mature destinations, it is necessary to rejuvenate a destination brand with new campaigns or themed marketing activities to maintain market position. For some new destinations entering the Chinese market, the first step is to create differentiated image and branding messages that convey the attractiveness of the destinations and make a strong and favourable impression on the Chinese potential consumers.
To better promote a destination in China, a combination of media channels covering new media and traditional media such as online, social network, print, TV, outdoor advertising is needed for a comprehensive destination advertising and promotion plan.
1. New media channels
Internet: the Internet has become the main source used by Chinese consumers to gather information on overseas destination and travel services. According to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as of December 2016, China’s Internet users have reached 731 million. The Internet penetration rate reached 53.2%.2 Over the past few years, rapid mobile adoption has dramatically altered the Internet landscape in China. The number of mobile Internet users in China reached 695 million by December 2016. Mobile netizens accounted for 95.1% of the total netizen population.3 It is very important for destinations to have an official tourism and travel website in Chinese languages, providing comprehensive information on destinations and tourism suppliers. For new destinations, it will be more practical to contract a local marketing firm to develop and maintain a website with destination related information and image.
Search service is one of the basic Internet service most frequently used by Internet users in China. It started earlier and has developed into maturity period. Seen from the revenue of search engine companies, Baidu, the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, dominated China’s search engine market, grabbing 78% of market share in 2016 and other players divided up the other part of the cake of 22%.4 Baidu’s web search allows users to locate information through search queries. The number of average monthly active users of mobile search, defined as users who used the service at least once in a given month, was approximately 665 million for http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107
2 China Internet Network Information Center (2017), Statistical Report on Internet Development in China January 2017, p. 1 (online), available at: www.cnnic.com.cn (19-06-2017).
3 Ibid.
4 iReaseach Global (2017), Growth of China’s Search Engine Market Was Below Expectation in 2016, published 23 January 2017 (online), available at: www.iresearchchina.com (19-06-2017). Recommendations and conclusion 129
December 2016.5 Destinations can take efforts to understand Chinese culture and fit their website and online advertisements into the local mindset by picking the most attractive keywords to deliver your message to non-English-speaking Chinese consumers.
Social media: China is the world’s largest social network market. Social media in China is becoming increasingly influential and is very popular in the travel industry. Social media has also become a very important marketing tool for destinations to promote tourism, interact with potential customers and inspire travel demands. Both Facebook and Twitter have not entered the Chinese market. Chinese consumers are widely using the social media platform developed and operated by Chinese companies. The most popular social networking applications in China are Sina Weibo and Tecent WeChat.
Sina Weibo: Sina Weibo is a social networking and micro blogging service based in China with more than 300 million registered users. Sina Weibo was launched in 2009 and is owned by SINA Corporation, one of the largest Internet portal and online media companies in China. Sina Weibo is the Chinese counterpart of Facebook and Twitter. Designed for easy, frequent interactions and to expedite the spread of information, Weibo may be accessed from Weibo.com, Weibo.cn (WAP) and partner websites, as well as desktop and mobile applications on iPhone, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone and Symbian devices.
Commercial entities such as commercial enterprises, media firms, non-profit organizations and Government agencies can build their Weibo presence and engage with the Weibo community via their enterprise accounts. An enterprise account aggregates the basic functions of a Weibo user account with enterprise-specific features, such as brand displays on the profile page, an interactive map page with the account owner’s location and contact information and a customer bulletin board where the account owner can manage customer inquiries and complaints. Enterprise accounts are often used commercially to build brand awareness, generate product interest and build sales leads, as well as manage customer relationships. Businesses with verified identities can apply for enterprise accounts, which enable them to customize their Weibo Pages and to perform marketing events, promotion activities, ad campaigns and payment processing on Weibo.
Sina Weibo was once the most popular and rapidly growing twitter-like social media in China. However, its once dominating position and market share has been greatly undermined by the emerging Tecent mobile messaging application Weixin (WeChat). As in December 2016, Weibo had 313 million monthly active users (MAUs) and 139 million average daily active users (DAUs) with approximately 90% MAUs accessed Weibo from mobile devices at least once during the month.6
Tecent Weixin/WeChat: Weixin/WeChat is a social media (instant messaging, commerce and payment services) application developed by Tencent. It was first released in 2011 and by 2016 it was one of the largest standalone messaging applications by MAUs. Weixin/Wechat platform integrates instant messaging and social entertainment, bringing about a mobile digital lifestyle http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 on an easy to use application. Users get to engage in real-time communications via free text and multimedia messages, make video calls or share photos on their “Moments”.
5 Baidu (2016), Baidu Annual Report 2016, p.44–46 (online), available at: http://ir.baidu.com (16-03-2017).
6 Sina Corporation (2016), Sina Corporation 2016 Annual Report, p. 68 (online), available at: http://corp.sina.com.cn (19-06-2017). 130 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
Weixin/WeChat also offers enterprises “Official Accounts” to create original consumer experiences through its open platform and extended services such as Weixin/WeChat Pay for a truly mobile digital lifestyle. The WeChat Official Account Platform is a cooperation and promotion service launched for organizations and enterprises. Official accounts can promote their brands to billions of WeChat users through this WeChat channel, thus reducing propagation cost, raising brand popularity, and building up more influential brand images. Weixin/WeChat has evolved into a connector and open platform across industries, connecting users with one another, with smart devices and with business services. As indicated by the latest statistics announced by Tecent, the combined MAUs of weixin and weChat have reached 889.3 million as at the end of December 2016.7
Many mature destinations have opened public accounts on Sina Weibo and Weixin/Wechat. By posting official destination-related information and user generated contents, they use social media platforms as direct marketing and customer engagement tools to promote destination and communicate with targeting audiences on a frequent basis.
Opinion leaders: rooted in Chinese culture, Chinese social network users value the advice of key opinion leaders (KOL) in social networks. Many mature destinations have successfully promoted their brand and products by working with celebrities, stars, influential bloggers or professional travellers in China. Destinations entering the Chinese market are recommended to use KOLs to help develop their reputation, image and awareness. These celebrities, stars and online leaders have already built a community around themselves with a lot of fans and followers. The right KOL can deliver a powerful message and enables destinations to reach the target audiences in a very productive way. Destinations could invite KOL to visit and tell their stories. Their personal experiences and adventure in destinations will be shared with fans and followers and captured by mass media. This will help to create awareness of destinations and build a positive image among Chinese consumers.
2. Traditional media channels
Television: the television stations of China include the national and local TV stations. The audience of the national TV stations covers the whole country, such as China Central Television (CCTV). There are diverse kinds of local TV stations covering their own regions or cities, such as Beijing Television Station (BTV), Zhejiang Television (ZJTV) and so on. The coverage of CCTV is wider than local TV, but the cost of advertising is very expensive. Comparatively, the local televisions can focus on the target market at a lower price. With the popularity of entrainment programmes and reality shows, destinations can cooperate with local TV stations to promote destinations by sponsoring popular entertainment programmes or reality shows. This is a good way to show potential customer the natural beauty and uniqueness of destinations.
Magazines: compared with television, the coverage of public magazines is smaller and their readers are more subdivided. The influential travel-related magazines include the Chinese version of http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller, World Traveller Magazine, Traveller Magazine, etc. Some other fashion magazines such as Harper’s BAZAAR, Fashion, Elle and City Beauties Magazine all have dedicated sections for travel and leisure, and their target readers are leisure
7 Tencent Holdings Limited (2016), 2016 Annual Report, p. 7 (online), available at: www.tencent.com (19-06-2017). Recommendations and conclusion 131
travellers in the middle- and high-income group. Destination tourism promotion organizations may choose the appropriate magazines targeting the diverse market segments to promote and introduce the destinations by “soft” advertisement to attract the travel lovers and inspire their interest of travel to the destination.
Newspaper: the target local consumer groups, Chinese travel agencies usually choose local newspapers with large circulation to advertise their tour products. Destinations promotion organizations may cooperate with partnered tour operators to promote destination and sell relevant products.
Radio: the popularization of private cars in large metropolitan cities makes the radio widely used. While driving their cars, people usually listen to radio programmes for entertainment, and their favourite radio stations are traffic station and music station. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are often congested and this leads to a “traffic jam culture”. Therefore, radio advertising can also be an effective media tool to target potential consumer group. The destination promotion organizations can cooperate with the Chinese outbound tour operators to make radio advertising for destination promotion.
Outdoor advertisement: in addition, destination promotion organizations can set up large billboards or rent advertising spaces in subway stations, airport terminals, business centers or bus stops where large crowd of people are travelling around and provide value audience for destination campaign messages and promotions.
3. Develop media relations
To help better promote a destination’s image, destination tourism organizations can develop long-term partnership relations with major local public and industry media. This can be achieved by inviting media to visit destinations for familiarization trips. This will assist them in promoting destinations and related travel products in their reports to let more Chinese tourists get good knowledge of destinations and inspire their interests in travel.
Attend trade events and exhibitions
Each year, there are several trade shows and events in China providing good opportunity for new destinations to meet with Chinese travel trade counterparts and engage in business activities with potential partners. Attending trade shows and exhibitions is an effective way to promote the destination and tourist products. Some of the major trade shows are as follows: –– International Forum on Chinese Outbound Tourism (IFCOT)8: International Forum on Chinese Outbound Tourism (IFCOT) is a high-end travel industry summit supported by CNTA, China Association of Travel Services (CATs), UNWTO, World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) and other International organizations. IFCOT focuses http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 on all aspects of China’s outbound tourism resources, and has become a very important cooperation platform for domestic and foreign tourism organizations and enterprises. IFCOT 2017 was held in January in Beijing, China.
8 For more information see: http://ifcot.outbound-tourism.cn. 132 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
–– China International Travel Mart (CITM)9: China International Travel Mart (CITM) is one of the largest and most important travel marts in China, which is held alternatively in Shanghai or Kunming in November every year. CITM is jointly sponsored by the CNTA, Shanghai Municipal People’s Government/Yunnan Provincial People’s Government, and Civil Aviation Administration of China. CITM 2017 will be held from 20–22 October 2017 in Yunnan, China. –– ITB China10: ITB China, a sister event of ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus Börse), is a new travel trade show exclusively focused on the Chinese Travel Market. The first ITB China debuted in May 2017 in Shanghai. The three-day business-to-business travel trade fair focused exclusively on the Chinese travel industry, while the parallel ITB China Conference offered the latest insight. –– China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market (COTTM)11: China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market is dedicated to the China outbound travel and tourism sector. It’s usually held in April annually in Beijing. A wide range of trade associations, numerous Chinese and international media partners support COTTM. COTTM provide good platform for new destinations to meet with Chinese tour operators and promote tourism resources. The next event will be held from 16–18 April 2018 in Beijing. –– Shanghai World Travel Fair (SWTF)12: Shanghai World Travel Fair is a leading travel expo in China usually staged in April annually in Shanghai and co-hosted by Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration and VNU Exhibitions Europe. The event showcases a diverse range of destinations and industry sectors to China’s most dynamic markets. It is an effective platform for the global travel trade to meet, network, negotiate, and conduct business. The next event will be held in Shanghai, China starting 19 April 2018. –– Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF)13: Guangzhou International Travel Fair is one of the most important annual international travel fairs in the Asia and the Pacific region. Guangzhou is one of three portal cities in China and the most important tourist-generating city from the south, destination tourism organizations will attend this exhibition if they want to attract more travellers from southern part of China. GITF 2018 will be held in Guangzhou, China starting 1 March 2018. –– Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE)14: Beijing International Tourism Expo is held by Beijing Tourism Administration in Beijing in every June since 2004. BITE aims to present the highest quality of exhibitors, buyers, and visitors across the region. During the three-day mega tourism event, BITE will showcase tourism destinations, attractions and travel-related goods and services. BITE 2017 was held from 16–18 June 2017 in Beijing. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 9 For more information see: www.citm.com.cn.
10 For more information see: www.itb-china.com.
11 For more information see: www.cottm.com.
12 For more information see: www.worldtravelfair.com.cn.
13 For more information see: www.gitf.com.cn.
14 For more information see: www.bjbite.com. Recommendations and conclusion 133
5.2 Conclusion
After nearly two decades of rapid development, China’s outbound tourism has become an important driver for tourism not only in the Asia and the Pacific region but also globally. Despite the slightly slower rate of economic growth in terms of GDP, China’s economic structure is expected to maintain continuous improvement and achieve a higher-quality growth. Together with stable economic development, other factors such as increased disposal incomes of urban residents, upgraded consumption level, simplified visa policies of foreign countries, enrichment of tourism products and enhanced promotion of destinations all will contribute to the continuous growth of China’s outbound tourism market.
As many countries are currently facing economic downturn and consumption slowdown, the continued increase of Chinese outbound tourists and their spending have undoubtedly been valued by more and more destinations and travel suppliers. The Belt and Road initiative by the Chinese Government aims to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and the related countries and further stimulate Chinese nationals to surrounding countries.
China has a vast territory with unbalanced economic development and population distribution. The Chinese market is segmented with different tourist-generating regions in which demand and tour product structure are varied. The tier 1 tourist-generating regions are the main source market for outbound travel. Tourists of tier 1 regions are sophisticated and high value customers who prefer in-depth and themed tours to regular sightseeing tours. Outbound travel markets in tier 2 tourist-generating regions have huge potential and are becoming the important driver for the growth in Chinese overseas travel while China’s tier 3 tourism-generating regions are still in a nascent stage but will no doubt grow in strength in the future.
With the fast development of Chinese outbound tourism, Chinese consumer demand and tour product structure have evolved. A higher proportion of their travel budgets are devoted to tourism experiences in dining, accommodation and entertainment activities. Chinese tourists have increasingly diverse and individualized demands choosing in-depth tours and customized tours that give them the opportunity to enjoy a better travel experience. The free independent travel market will continue to grow and expand from short-haul neighbouring destinations to medium and long-haul destinations. Themed tours that represent individualized and customized characteristics and deliver experimental tourism experiences will become the leading force in tourist product innovation.
Chinese outbound tourism market is also under transformation with the application and development of new technologies, especially in the areas of online distribution channels, social media marketing, mobile applications, wireless payment, etc. New technologies have made overseas travel more accessible and convenient. It is noticeable that OTA sectors, e-commerce platforms, social networking platforms, mobile applications, non-cash payment channels have been growing very fast in China, which require destinations to keep pace with the local http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 development and adapt to the changes of Chinese market.
The growth of the Chinese outbound travel market and the market development potential has generated tremendous business opportunities for international tourism destinations and local tourism suppliers and service providers. Many destinations have successfully expanded business into the Chinese market by developing Chinese market-focused strategic plan and taking tailored 134 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
marketing approaches to adapt to the characteristics of the Chinese market. Destinations need to adopt flexible and diverse marketing strategies and take full advantage of new technologies and media channels that are widely used in China, to present and pitch their unique features and products to Chinese consumers. A destination should fully understand the characteristics and needs of China’s outbound tourism market and determine its positioning in the Chinese market based on its own competitive advantages. In addition, it must closely cooperate with China’s tour operators, leverage on their understanding of and influence in the local market and bind destination promotion with product sales.
The case studies on some destinations in this study have provided an analysis of the successful solutions practiced by destinations to penetrate and leverage the Chinese outbound tourism market that will be a valuable aid to destinations in understanding and fomenting current and future tourism demand. Unlike other tourism-developed countries, China’s outbound tourism market has its own course of development with unique characteristics. At present, China’s outbound tourism has entered a new stage of transformation, with increasingly diversified market demands and industry structure.
As China’s economy continues to grow, it can be expected that China’s outbound tourism market will maintain a momentum of fast development. The solutions presented in this report from destinations around the world demonstrate how effective and innovative policies, marketing campaigns, and technologies can attract this important market. http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 135
List of acronyms and abbreviations
ADS Approved Destination Status app application ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASP Aussie Specialist Program BITE Beijing International Tourism Expo BTV Beijing Television Station CATS China Association of Travel Services CCT China Comfort Travel CCTV China Central Television CITM China International Travel Mart CITS China International Travel Services CLTF China Luxury Travel Fair CNNIC China Internet Network Information Center CNTA China National Tourism Administration COTTM China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market CYTS China Youth Travel Service EPL English Primer League FIT free independent traveller/travel GDP gross domestic product GITF Guangzhou International Travel Fair IFCOT International Forum on Chinese Outbound Tourism IMHP International Media Hosting Program ITB Internationale Tourismus Börse, Berlin JNTO Japan National Tourism Organization JSF Japan Shopping Festival JSTO Japan Shopping Tourism Organization KDP Key Distribution Partner KOL Key Opinion Leaders KTO Korea Tourism Organization
http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 LA Los Angeles LATCB Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board LV Louis Vuitton MICE meeting, incentive, convention, exhibition MMPRC Maldives Marketing and Public Relations Corporation 136 Penetrating the Chinese Outbound Tourism Market – Successful Practices and Solutions
MOTAC Ministry of Tourism and Culture MOTS Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports MTPB Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board MyFEST Malaysia Year of Festivals NBA National Basketball Association OPI outbound tourism price index OTA online travel agency O2O online-to-offline QR quick response QSC Quality Service Certification (China Outbound Tourism Quality Service Certification Program) RV recreational vehicle ST Switzerland Tourism TAT Tourism Authority of Thailand TDC Tourism Development Corporation UNWTO World Tourism Organization VFR visiting friends and relatives VIP very important person VJC Visit Japan Campaign VMY Visit Malaysia Year VOLP Visiting Opinion Leaders Program VR virtual reality WTF World Travel Fair ZJTV Zhejiang Television http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 T 137
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Websites Add company/organization name to the websites and list by alphabetical order www.travelzoo.com www.booking.com www.AVIA.com www.tianxun.com www.youzhan.com www.travelzoo.com www.ctrip.com www.ly.com www.qyer.com www.uzai.com www.caissa.com.cn www.zuzuche.com www.mafengwo.com www.outbound-tourism.cn www.citm.com.cn www.cottm.com www.worldtravelfair.com.cn www.gitf.com.cn www.beijingbite.com www.chinaluxurytravelfair.com www.australia.cn www.qualitytourism.cn www.itb-china.com http://ifcot.outbound-tourism.cn Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting UnionPay International World Tourism Organization (UNWTO): www.unwto.org http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107 http://www.e-unwto.org/doi/book/10.18111/9789284418992 - Sunday, September 24, 2017 6:51:32 AM - Israel Ministry of Tourism IP Address:147.237.70.107