Guest Post by Dr.Berenice Pendzialek, Chinese Tourism Specialist

We are pleased to finalize our China Outbound Tourismarticle series with this great topic on how to maximize available digital channels in order to reach Chinese tourists in their journeys, from planning to booking.  2018 is the EU – China Tourism Year, therefore, we wanted to cover the topic comprehensively with the help of an expert.

Chinese tourists, especially young-independent travelers, are known for thoroughly planning their trips in advance. Much of this pre-trip homework starts 1-2 months before departure and is happening online. According to Hotels.com, Chinese tourists spend 12 days researching online and visit at least one online price comparison site. Moreover, when booking, millennials are keen to use their mobiles, whereas, older travelers choose traditional booking methods (desktop, phone calls, physical visits). Taking this into consideration, it is necessary to let Chinese tourists know about your brand before reaching a destination. This blog post will introduce you to some of China´s digital platforms, that tourism providers can use to create brand awareness, communicate, and offer customer service.

Please note that before sharing information, do plan aconsistent content strategy. Start with a proper Chinese name. It is always advisable to look if former Chinese visitors are discussing your product online, maybe they have already created a name for it, then you can decide if using it or have a new one. Reviews are also a good source of future content messages, Baidu Travel Forum can be a good start for your search.