Guided Tour

"There is a best-seller in China titled Success Depends on Details. Overseas travel operators would do well to take to heart the message of that book when targeting Chinese customers," says Xu Fan, member of the professional committee of the United Nations' World Travel Organization (WTO).

Xu's suggestion alludes to the unique tastes and preferences of Chinese travelers as well as their diverse inclinations and expectations when touring a foreign land, often stemming from regional characteristics.

With their income rising and the renminbi gaining in strength against the dollar, more and more middle-class Chinese are expected to travel abroad. Many families from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are reportedly heading overseas for the coming Spring Festival holidays. And for tour operators of countries hosting them, it's time to test the mettle of Xu's suggestion.

As more and more countries get Approved Destination Status (ADS) to receive Chinese tourists, hospitality industry executives over the world are scrambling to find ways to attract this new driver of international travel business. But their success, analysts like Xu say, will finally depend on their understanding of Chinese culture and customs, and creating a comfortable tourism environment for these uniquely different guests.

Given the vast span of the country, the Chinese are characterized by diverse regional cultures and traits. Depending on where they come from in China, some tourists may prefer to go to the museum while others to designer boutiques. Wide income gaps also lend to this diversity of tourist preferences. Clearly, treating Chinese tourists as a homogenous entity is suicidal and the key to success lies in formulating tailored promotion strategies to meet the demands of various outbound travel groups.

Understanding Chinese

Zeng Zimin fondly remembers the July of 2005, when he visited the UK as a member of the first Chinese tour group to that country. The six-day visit of the 80-member group created quite a stir in the UK, with VIPs, from Prince Andrew to the mayor of Manchester, and heads of Visit Britain and Visit Scotland welcoming them. Major media organizations such as Reuters, BBC, London Times and Daily Telegraph followed them like they were celebrities.

"They really made us feel welcome," says Zeng, 68. "But I didn't feel comfortable, I missed my food."

Swiss, who count their hospitality industry as one of the best in the world, couldn't figure out why Chinese tourists would spend freely on jewelry and watches but pinch pennies when it came to accommodation. Switzerland expected to receive 300,000 Chinese travelers in 2006, boosting its hospitality sector. While the figure reached only 203,000, most tourists stayed in three- to four-star hotels.

"Switzerland's travel selling point is its top-class luxury hospitality services, but the nation's travel businesses failed to deliver that message to ordinary Chinese people and could not design tailored products for them," says Xu.

China's outbound tour market is booming. According to the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), 40.95 million Chinese traveled overseas last year, up 18.6 percent from 2006. The administration forecasts the number will increase 10 percent to 45 million this year.

Chinese tourists' outbound travel destinations have also risen from 20 in 2002 to the current 134 countries and regions, the latest addition to the list being the United States. The first group of Chinese tourists is expected to visit the US this spring.

Meanwhile, Chinese consumers are getting increasingly sophisticated, according to Grace Pan, head of Travel and Leisure Research for The Nielsen Company, China. The research firm has conducted a series of studies on the Chinese outbound travel sector and finds service and product designs outweigh prices as key elements influencing travel decisions of the Chinese.

Hot porridge and salted vegetables for breakfast, kettle at hand for access to boiled water and Chinese-language signs in rooms, for example, would go a long way in drawing Chinese tourists. A Chinese guide book is good, but bilingual ones would be better. Providing tourists dumplings during the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, and mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival would also be a very good idea.

Finer details like these need to be worked into the business strategy, for which a basic knowledge of Chinese customs would be very handy. In China, 4 is pronounced as death, so Chinese travelers should be kept away from fourth floor or rooms with numbers including 4. Similarly, 6, 8 and 9 imply good luck, which means Chinese tourists will love to be on these floors and rooms with these numbers. Pan says such thoughtful and tailored services will inspire word of mouth, an effective marketing tool in China.

Tailored promotion

In October 2006, Los Angeles Tourism Office in Beijing was set up, the first city-level tourism office established in China, more than a year before China and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding granting the US the ADS.

Apart from being the city with the second largest Chinese-American community in the US and the second largest city in the nation, LA has many other selling points for Chinese travelers, such as Hollywood, theme parks, museums and lively evening activities.

An early bird in US travel promotion in China, the office, besides creating close ties with government departments concerned, travel industry insiders, related businesses and media, pays a lot of attention to professional training for tour agencies in both China and LA.

"Training is very important to provide professional services to our Chinese consumers," says Jamie Y Lee, chief representative of the LA Convention and Visitors Bureau and director of the office.

"Alliance with local agencies is an efficient way for us to know more about Chinese people's preferences and help Chinese guides learn how to cooperate with LA operators to provide quality services to Chinese tourists," Lee says.

She admits that she is concerned if the LA side is well prepared for Chinese tourists. Facilities such as bilingual signs, maps and guide booklets are not a problem, what Lee worries about the most is whether LA guides are "bilingual, professional and experienced enough".

"Some of them are new migrants, who do not have a deep understanding of the LA culture," she says, adding that training should be strengthened to ensure they can serve Chinese visitors.

Both Xu and Pan stress foreigners should bear in mind the regional differences in China, which leads to diverse tourism preferences. Xu cites as an example Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the top outbound travel cities of China by number of visitors and travel expenditure. Beijingers prefer historical and cultural sites, while Shanghai residents prefer snazzier locations and those from Guangzhou focus on gourmet and leisure.

"Every ADS nation has its unique selling points, but when designing products or promoting them to the consumers of these three cities, operators should adjust their strategies to meet local tastes," says Xu.

Nielson's survey found that tourists from these three cities are inclined to spend more in trips to Europe than to other places in the world and splashed out an average of $5,253 per person in the continent in 2006.

According to Xu, in Europe, Beijingers linger on museums and old buildings; Shanghai tourists like to go on high-end shopping, buying up perfumes and watches, in addition to visiting famous sites; and those from Guangzhou prefer to hang out at Trafalgar Square for the New Year party, join in the beer binge at the Munich Beer Festival and take part in Edinburgh International Festival.

(China Daily 02/02/2008 page1)