Sailing the great wall: A guide for hotels to attract travellers from China
China, with its vast and diverse culture, represents a significant market for hotels
In the fast-paced hotel industry, understanding travellers’ preferences from various regions is key to thriving in a competitive market. China, with its vast and diverse culture, represents a significant market for hotels seeking to attract global guests.
In this article, we will explore strategies for hotels to attract Chinese travellers and discuss how hotels can provide a memorable experience that goes beyond just a place to stay.
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Mandarin excellence:
Chinese travellers value a thoughtful approach to language and culture. Ensuring your hotel staff is proficient in Mandarin or providing multilingual services can significantly enhance the guest experience. Adding Mandarin translations to welcome cards, menus, and room instructions can help Chinese guests feel more at ease and welcome.
Also, include language options for users to easily switch between languages on your website. This will help them explore your offerings more.
Culinary delights:
Cuisine is an integral part of Chinese culture, and offering authentic Chinese dishes can be a major draw. Collaborate with skilled local chefs or incorporate popular Chinese delicacies into your menu. Having a variety of food choices for all diets will make your hotel stand out and create a memorable dining experience.
Leveraging social media presence:
Chinese social media has a lot of users. It can help you reach and attract your target audience effectively. Dragon Tail reports that the majority of Chinese travellers rely on social media to plan their trips and over 70 percent of them use social media as their primary channel for trip planning.
Leverage this opportunity by advertising your hotel to more people in China through social media like WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin. Collaborate with popular Chinese influencers to showcase your hotel’s features, deals, and nearby attractions.
Mobile-friendly booking:
Chinese travellers regularly use mobile apps for various services, including travel bookings. Ensure that your hotel website is mobile-friendly to save OTA commissions and consider having a presence on popular Chinese travel apps. Offering easy-to-use mobile booking options, loyalty programs, and exclusive promotions can attract tech-savvy Chinese tourists.
Cultural activities and amenities:
Chinese travellers often appreciate experiences that allow them to connect with local culture. Offering cultural activities in the hotel, like tea ceremonies and calligraphy classes, can make the experience special and unique. Additionally, providing amenities such as Chinese tea, slippers, or adapters in rooms can enhance the overall guest experience.
Consider seamless payment methods:
Chinese tourists highly value businesses that cater to their preferences and offer localized products and services. One crucial aspect of localization is providing Chinese-friendly payment gateway, such as Stripe, and Alipay. Chinese travellers widely use these mobile payment platforms in China. Accepting these payment methods can make transactions easier and more reliable. This can increase the likelihood of Chinese tourists to book a stay on your property.
Connect with Chinese OTAs:
Connect with at least one of the Chinese OTAs to increase your brand awareness among travellers from China. One of the OTAs, CTrip, has over 160 million app downloads. To reduce errors and track performance on various channels from a single dashboard, use a cloud-based channel manager to streamline your operations.
Attracting Chinese travellers involves a strategic blend of cultural understanding, personalized services, and a strong digital presence. To attract Chinese travellers, focus on Chinese culture, provide authentic experiences, and use effective marketing. This will make your hotel a top choice for discerning Chinese guests. To keep guests coming back, make sure the environment is comfortable, convenient, and memorable. This will turn first-time visitors into loyal supporters.
STAAH Blog originally published HERE
Edwin Saldanha, Marketing Director at STAAH
STAAH Ltd is a New Zealand-based technology company that specialises in innovative cloud-based solutions that simplify hospitality operations and open a world of online commerce for accommodation providers of all sizes. Founded by Gavin Jeddo in 2008, an industry pioneer,
STAAH’s technology suite comprises channel management, direct bookings, online reviews management and gift voucher management system.
Our passionate and diverse team is based across New Zealand, Australia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and the UK providing 24/7/365 support and service to our network of more than 18000+ accommodation partners worldwide.
Our quest for delivering high-quality solutions that deliver results is recognised by industry partners in the form of Airbnb Badge, Booking.com and Expedia Preferred Partner. We are a New Zealand FernMark Licensee.
