Beijing summit delivers warning to the unwary
Charlie Li, head of China Travel Distribution Summit organiser TravelDaily.cn, told this year’s conference in Beijing that China “is everyone’s biggest dream, yet it could be everyone’s worst nightmare if one is not preparedâ€.
He added, “Foreign companies need to be savvy in leveraging the digital landscape as well as align themselves with strong local partners that understand the Chinese culture and travel landscape, and that can act as a bridge by also understanding the western way of doing things, to avoid misunderstandings and disappointments.
“China is in a socio-economic transformation, and travel and tourism is a major catalyst to drive that change.â€
Comparing China with India, Ram Badrinathan, general manager-Asia Pacific for PhoCusWright, said that while China is leading India with physical infrastructure, it comes short in soft infrastructure, namely travel innovation, which he attributed to the shortcomings of the GDS landscape in China.
Key outcomes from this year’s summit
– It is critical to have a well-balanced execution between direct and non-direct channels, as well as online and offline mediums. Convergence is more important in China than anywhere else, however online is growing and is the most important information source for Chinese consumers.
– Social media in China is complex and vastly different than outside of China. China has its own social media sites, and blocked sites, such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare are becoming more and more irrelevant.
– Any company looking to be successful in China needs to have a local social media strategy. Social media channels will also become important platforms for booking and transactions in the future, not just for information gathering.
Most of the big online travel agencies in China, namely Ctrip and eLong, and media sites such as Qunar and Daoao have social media functionalities built in.
– Service is a key component for success in China, as most transactions are still offline, and various bottlenecks still exist, such as obtaining visas for outbound travel and payment systems. Being able to service Chinese customers is critical.
– Mobile will continue to grow, and will be the future for travel planning and distribution. The official and successful entry of the iPad into China is another catalyst that will drive this consumer behaviour that travel organisations have to adapt for.
Having a Chinese content strategy that leverages various platforms and channels, including mobile will be the cornerstone to reach Chinese consumers.
– Search is important in China, with or without Google. Baidu’s market share will push Baidu to innovate and learn from search engines like Google.
However, China still has different rules when it comes to search. The traveller-centric future is more personalised results that combine mobile and social media with search.
Ian Jarrett
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