Australia to target China’s second tier cities
Tourism Australia is following in the footsteps of international hotel chains by targeting China’s fast growing second tier cities for new opportunities.
Tourism Australia’s marketing is currently focused on Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou but new research has opened up the benefits of paying extra attention to second-tier cities.
A record number of 558,600 Chinese visited Australia in the 12 months from January 2011, spending more than A$3.8 billion, up 15% on the previous calendar year.
Tourism Australia said research into the travel behaviour and preferences of consumers living in 13 of China’s rapidly growing secondary cities, indicated that Australia was viewed as an ”aspirational, highly regarded, must-visit destination” among many middle-class Chinese.
Cities earmarked for extra marketing attention include Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan and Xiamen
Among the findings of the research were these:
– while the internet plays an important role in holiday research/planning, the majority of the respondents are still likely to rely on travel agents to organise and book their travel, in particular flights, transport, organising visas and accommodation.
– respondents were most inspired and influenced by traditional travel advertising, travel media and by word of mouth, although social media is becoming more influential.
“We plan to use these findings to help prioritise our marketing activities in China,” said Tourism Australia boss Andrew McEvoy.
Ian Jarrett
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