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WIT: Understanding the new Chinese traveller
The days of wealthy Chinese tourists buying armfuls of Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton handbags may not be over, but there is an emerging shift in what Chinese travellers want to experience on overseas trips.
“Consumer spending is shifting from products to services,†said Fritz Demopoulous, CEO of Qunar, the travel search engine in China (Qunar means Where You Going
“Chinese consumers are still price sensitive, but 70 percent of our customers now value factors other than price. Services are only now resonating with consumers,†he said.
Demopoulous said online travel bookings in China were just 10 percent of the market compared with 50-60 percent in developed markets. The online market would grow rapidly among China’s 750 million-plus mobile phone subscribers, and up to 500 million Internet users, he added.
“Now is the time to promote your brand, your destination and your services in China,†he said. “Brand preferences are not yet fully established in China, so there is a great opportunity to be first.â€
Demopoulous said there was “no one right way†to achieve business success in China. “You have to find out for yourselfâ€.
A good start, he added, would be “to park yourself in China and have dedicated staff to understand what’s happening in the country”.
Ian Jarrett
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