2. REACH & CONNECT
WITH AFFLUENT
CHINESE CONSUMERS
BY LEVERAGING DIGITAL
MARKETING, TECHNOLOGY
AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO
INCREASE BRAND AWARENESS
AND GENERATE DEMAND
3. Travel Motivation
• Rising Incomes
China Outbound Travel •
•
Easier to get visas, hard
currency and passports
Travelling abroad for
business and education
Total Outbound Travel 40,891.4 10,000 inspires them to return to
40,000 Total Long-haul Travel the same destinations for
leisure
• Travel (especially to
8,000 Europe) as a status symbol
30,000 • In-depth travel is becoming
more popular than multi-
25,330.9
country packages
6,000 • Status, novelty, culture,
4,808.4 shopping, time, cost, food
20,000
4,000 Travel Needs
3,151.4
11,174.0 • Safety of a destination
• Ease of getting a visa
10,000
5,643.2 2,000
• Other factors:
-Natural Scenic Beauty
1,834.7
-Well-known landmarks
1,216.2
-Friendly local people
0 0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007p 2008f 2009f 2010f 2011f
But…
• Good Chinese food not
always available
Data from China National Tourism Office and Global Insight – Global Travel Navigator May 2008 • Quality level not according
to Chinese expectations
3
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4. China Internet Facts
456 Million Internet Users equals 32% penetration in China
(USA has over 80 % penetration) ; 150 Mill new users in 2009;
equals 330,000 new users per day or 14,000 per hour
4
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5. China Internet Facts
800 Million Mobile Users -
30 Million people access the Internet
only on their mobile phones
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6. China Outbound Tourism 2010:
Greater interest in in-depth travels by Chinese travellers:
depth
• The survey of the China Tourism Academy
2009/2010 shows that Chinese tour operators are
increasing their range of products, meeting
,
the growing demand for more sophisticated
travel offers from Chinese customers.
• Niche market and special interest products
gain opportunities to attract Chinese visitors
visitors.
Published in cooperation with the China Tourism Academy (CTA)
and the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI)
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7. Online Travel Research in China
Source: Nielsen, 2009
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8. CHINA’S CONSUMERS
China’s Elite and nouveau riche: In China
more than 400 million people live on less than
$2 a day but there is an emerging and fast growing
elite class which shops at Armani, Gucci, Cartier,
Ferrari, Bentley, and Hugo Boss. These are the high
brand-conscious and prestige-oriented Chinese
consumer segments who like to indulge in
conspicuous consumption.
China’s Generation Y: Success-driven, educated,
driven,
information savvy and surprisingly loyal to Chinese
values and culture but also open to Western ideas.
They are good candidates for Western brands and are
fashion-conscious.
Trendy, Perfectionist Consumers: These are
predominantly females who love to shop and
associate foreign brands with quality and style.
Traditional, Pragmatic Consumers: They
don’t like to shop much and basically look for
products based on price and not style. Predominantly
male consumers and generally go for less expensive
local brands rather than expensive or stylish foreign
brands.
17. China’s digital media landscape
is dominated by local players.
Government censorship Local players appeal
to domestic users
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19. CHINA SOCIAL MEDIA DOMINATES THE US:
Chinese netizens are more engaged in creating/sharing content
Source: New 2008 Social Technographics data Source: Chinese Social Technographics Revealed,
reveals rapid growth in adoption, 2008/10/20 2009/01/23
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20. Chinese Online Participation and
Engagement is more vibrant than in the West
Source: CIC Watch, 2008
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21. The Power of the Internet Community in China:
Redefining the Brand/Consumer Relationship
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22. “Social Media is the most
influential communications
medium in modern China”
Two-thirds of surveyed public affairs executives –
thirds
Edelman Media Influence Survey, November 2009
28. Case Study: Canadian Rockies Social Media Contest
• No advertising (paid search, banner advertising, print)
• Promotion via Chinese Social Media only
• 90 % Viral Spread (over 90% of people who registered on were invited to join by their
friends who had already signed up). Registrations including name, email, mobile
phone)
200,000
180,000
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
Registrations
Visits
20,000
0
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
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40. December 2010 - January 2011
DRAGONTRAIL.COM
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41. Travel Alberta (Canada)
Strategy:
- Portal for big Tourist Boards
(countries, states/provinces,
regions, major cities, etc.) the
opportunity to develop a relevant,
china-hosted web platform, to
build the brand and increase
referrals to online and offline sales
channels
- The portal is developed to give
SMEs and DMOs the opportunity
to have a presence, which
otherwise would not make sense
or is cost prohibitive
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42. Travel Alberta (Canada)
Strategy:
- Sub-Site within the
china.travelalberta.com portal
to give smaller DMOs a low-
cost online presence in China
- includes branding, own URL,
quarterly content updates,
tagging, search engine
optimization, social media
inclusion, and if applicable trip
planner integration.
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43. Travel Alberta (Canada) Strategy:
- Sub-Site within the
china.travelalberta.com portal to give
SMEs (hotels, resorts, attractions,
tours, transportation, etc.) a low-
cost online presence in China
- includes branding, own URL,
quarterly content updates, tagging,
search engine optimization, social
media inclusion, and if applicable trip
planner integration.
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44.
45. Campaign Page
http://china.travelalberta.com/page/zh-CN/huodong
http://china.travelalberta.com/page/zh
Page View: 121,000+
Unique Visits: 5,800+
The campaign site was created and landed on the
official Chinese website of Travel Alberta.
A new image was posted each day during the
period of the campaign.
A short description of the image was given to
introduce the sightseeing place/activities.
Missing puzzle pieces were randomly placed in
different pages in the Chinese site.
Each participant who completed one puzzle
piece and shared it to sina micro blog will
receive a lucky draw number.
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46. Sina Weibo
http://t.sina.com.cn/
.sina.com.cn/travelalberta
Current Followers: 2344
New Followers: 2084
(after campaign launched)
One micro blog was
posted on sina to give
a brief introduction of
the prize campaign.
URL of the campaign
site was given.
Followers were
encouraged to retweet
the post to at least 3
friends to be qualified
for a daily prize draw.
DRAGONTRAIL.COM
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47. November 2010 - January 2011
2010 Sina Travel Award
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49. Foundation Campaign (
(Sina Weibo)
Campaign I: Nov 8th - Dec 8th, 2010
Main Objective: Build fan base on sina weibo
Location: Sina weibo
Fans: +10,800 | @ATP: 26,561
Comments: 21,948 | Website Visitis: 1,750
Grand Prize: Free trip to ATP for two
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51. Unique Family Campaign (Mini-Site)
Campaign II Period: Dec 9th, 2010 - Jan 21st, 2011
Main Objective: Drive website traffic;
Build EDM database
Location: Chinese Website
Participants (UTD): 10,000+ families
Grand Prize: Free trip to ATP Dubai
for a Chinese family (up to 3 members)
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52. Online Family Campaign:
- Unique family campaign that
merges viral marketing and
social media marketing
components, by leveraging the
Chinese social media landscape
(especially the Chinese Twitter
micro-blogging equivalent, Sina
Weibo), and a uniquely
developed micro-site to capture
data and increase engagement
- The campaign was launched
after having run a very
successful Chinese social media
campaign to increase fans on
Sina Weibo to over 10,000 in a
few weeks, in order to leverage
these fan to ensure success for
the Family campaign
-The Social Media campaign
was started after the launch of
the relevant Chinese website of
Atlantis The Palm Dubai.
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55. February - March 2011
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56. Virtual Trip Campaign
Three virtual
itineraries around
Canada were
designed.
Participant who
complete one
route will have a
chance to win a
free trip to
Canada.
In totoal three free
trips, 50 iPads and
1000 U-disks are
given away.
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71. Research studies indicate that attitude towards websites,
the site’s interactivity and usability, as well as purchase
intentions of users are enhanced when sites are congruent
with the target customers’ cultural predispositions.
(“The Culturally Customized Website”, Elsevier, 2005.)
Collectivism: Emphasizing values
important in collectivist cultures.
For example, emphasizing family
theme.
Power Distance: Adding elements
that emphasize power distance. For
example, displaying awards or
honors that a company or brand has
received.
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75. DRAGON TRAIL is a travel technology and digital marketing
company in China that helps international travel and tourism
organizations reach and connect with affluent Chinese consumers.
78. Founded by international leading experts
in social media, e-tourism and travel technology
tourism technology-
Recognized for most innovative new service for China Outbound Tourism
STRATEGY SOCIAL MEDIA
Dragon
LOCALIZED
TECHNOLOGY Trail CONTENT
RELEVANCY
Team The Senior Team, led by the founders,
consists of top experts, having worked
in leading social media sites in China,
headed PR/Communications for global
luxury hotel brands in China, and having
MOBILE
spearheaded the expansion of western
E-MARKETING
travel businesses into China, and worked
for English-Chinese translation companies.
Advisors include the most senior experts in
travel and tourism for China and globally.
BEIJING - SHANGHAI
79. Dragon Trail Digital Strategy Approach
GOAL: Increase Brand Awareness & Direct Sales
– Guide Strategy Execution
– Build a foundation for brand engagement
(Social Media ready and Search Engine
optimized Website for the Chinese Market)
– Create online touch-points
– Develop relevant content
– Maintain, monitor, engage, and evaluate
– Gain insights from data and social media
– Combine and offline and online tactics
– Drive campaigns that convert
– Increase revenues
79
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80. Dragon Trail Digital Strategy Planning
Social Media Campaigns
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81. Dragon Trail Multi-Touchpoint Ring Strategy
Touchpoint
1. Relevant Brand
Chinese Website
2. SEO Lifestyle &
Regional Satellite Sites
3. Targeted Chinese
Social Media Profiles
4. Content Syndication
& Blogger Interaction
5. Mobile Presence
6. SM Campaigns
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82. Dragon Trail Program Execution
5. Interact with influential bloggers 1. Determine the best possible
and manage Dragon Trail’s market strategy to build brand
Familiarization Trip 2.0 Program, awareness and reach the
designed to create buzz about target audience
the brand.
4. Execute an innovative
social media campaign that
drives traffic and captures
consumer data, leveraged 2. Develop a culturally-
for future initiatives. relevant Chinese Website,
consistent with the brand
message, optimized for
Chinese search engines,
designed for the Chinese
target market, with
3. Set-up profiles on targeted Chinese engaging content, and
Social Media profiles, seed relevant hosted in China with state
content, engage with the audience, and of the art technology.
monitor for brand reputation.
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83. A couple important points…
1. Website hosting in China is critical in order to ensure organic
local search engine optimization, and optimal accessibility.
2. Constant optimization of the social media landscape is
critical in order to ensure content seeding, consumer
engagement, and brand reputation.
3. A solid technology partner is vital, especially when running
campaigns, to ensure data quality and protect the database
from hackers.
4. Local representation, especially with intimate knowledge and
relationships in the travel and internet space in China critical
in order to ensure successful strategy execution.
…in short: YOU NEED A TRUSTED LOCAL ADVISOR IN CHINA.
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84. WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
THE CHINESE TRAVEL MARKET?
Access the latest trends on ChinaTravelTrends.com
and join the online community for free.
www.ChinaTravelTrends.com (Twitter: @CnTravelTrends) - Published by Dragon Trail & COTRI
85. Essential China Travel Trends Book
With forewords from UNWTO, WTTC, and PATA
“… Already the world’s fourth most
visited destination today, by 2020,
China is expected to become the
leading international tourism
destination and the fourth largest
outbound travel market. This
comprehensive study of travel trends in
China provides invaluable insights into
one of the fastest growing travel and
tourism markets in the world."
Taleb Rifai - Secretary General,
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
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86. China Travel Social Media Seminars
(DT also organizes company-specific seminars upon request,
specific
and is available for speaking engagements world
world-wide.)
“This was a very important and
insightful seminar, organized by
Dragon Trail. Social Media in China
looks very complex and like a whole
lot of work, but then again, people
are talking with or without us - so we
are definitely better off if we take part
and try to influence it."
Oliver Sedlinger - China Director,
German National Tourist Board (DZT)
Select Speaking Engagements:
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