TravConsult - China

Being “China Ready” for tourism is more than just serving noodles!

2011-10-26T22:32:00.003+11:00

They are theworld’s most wanted traveler, they have money to spend and they are keen tosee and experience the world outside China. But is the tourism industry readyto look after the Chinese tourist?

The term, “Chinaready” has become a buzz word in the tourism industry over the past 12 monthsas hotel chains, casinos, airports, attractions, shopping centers and manyother suppliers to the tourism industry around the world strive to gain andincrease their market share of Chinese tourists.

Many of these organizationsare providing menus, information briefs and even websites in Chinese, aselection of Chinese teas, teapots and slippers in hotel rooms,Mandarin-speaking staff and food items such as congee and noodles. But is thisenough?

According to oneChina tourism specialist, it isn’t. Trevor Lee, Managing Director ofTravConsult, which specializes in international customer service and tourismdevelopment, says that even these elementary steps to becoming “China ready”need to be implemented carefully and correctly to avoid offending Chinesetourists and losing business and market share to competitors.

Lee says, “Written Chinese language comes in two basicformats, traditional and simplified, with simplified being standard in MainlandChina, a fact known by most tourism professionals. However, simplified Chinesehas a different linguistic style in Hong Kong and Singapore to that in MainlandChina, so the person engaged to do the translations must have the skills andknowledge to translate in the style of Mainland China.”

Lee continuessaying, “And when it comes to providingChinese food, most western chefs simply cannot cook Chinese food that appeals toa Chinese person’s taste. Instant noodles would be better, as at the veryleast, the Asian flavour is appealing.” So employing the right chef orcontracting the right restaurant to provide for your Chinese customers’ tastesand meal needs is crucial to their overall travel experience.”

TravConsult's General Manager, Lilly Choi-Lee, reinforces this by adding, “Chinese people often greet family and closefriends by asking if they have eaten yet, emphasizing the cultural importanceof food in the daily lives of the Chinese. If you want a happy and satisfiedChinese tourist and customer, provide them with good Chinese food at least onceevery day and the rest of their travel should go smoothly.”

And when asked ifit is possible to exceed the Chinese travelers’ expectations when it comes tofood, Choi-Lee says, “Sure, provide goodChinese food that is typical of the region they come from in China, and youwill certainly gain a repeat customer and more importantly, word-of-mouthrecommendations which continue to strongly influence the travel purchasedecisions of Chinese consumers.”

Since 2004, Lee andChoi-Lee have been conducting “China Ready” tourism-specific programs for hotels,resorts, casinos, attractions, retail businesses and destinations in Australia.In July this year they delivered a series of fifteen China Ready workshops aspart of the “Servicing the China Market Program” in five key tourism regions ofAustralia’s state of Queensland, under the Queensland Tourism Industry SupportPackage funded by the Federal and Queensland State Governments.

Although conferencesand reports alike are highlighting the actual number of increasing outboundtravelers from China, Choi-Lee emphasizes that, “It is crucial that tourism businesses focus more on the fact thatChinese tourists are evolving and changing rapidly as too are their levels of expectationsincreasing. Their awareness of different tourism products and services is greater,mainly due to how they use the internet and communicate through China’s manysocial media platforms. Furthermore, they are becoming more affluent, whichalone will change the face of tourism around the world,” agreeing with commentsmade recently by Pierre Gervois, president and CEO of China Elite Focus.

Lee says, “In 2004, our China Ready Workshops focusedon the basic cultural differences between China and the west. Today, however, ourChina Ready Workshops take aholistic approach to enhancing an organization’s or destination’s ability to understandand successfully engage the Chinese tourist market. Furthermore, our China ReadyWorkshops are being fine-tuned all the time, as the Chinese consumer and travelerchanges. We have developed executive level Workshops to help senior tourism professionalsbetter understand, utilize and keep up with these changes as well as how theirorganizations can tap into the way Chinese consumers use local social mediasuch as Weibo, Youku and Renren.”

At the sales level,TravConsult regularly delivers China Ready Workshops designed for key tourismmanagers who need to interact at the business and sales levels with potentialChinese partners and colleagues, while further front-line specific workshopsfocus on pertinent Chinese language and engagement skills and understanding andmanaging the service expectations, needs and behavior of the changing Chinesetourist.

Lee concludesnoting that, “Being China ready fortourism is not something that can be achieved in one stage. It needs to beongoing, dynamic, flexible and evolving, just to keep pace with the changingChinese tourist.”

Chinese tour guide crisis in Oz; cultural issue and mistake repeated

2011-10-14T12:28:00.002+11:00

In arecently published article in the Travel Weekly (http://www.travelweekly.com.au/getattachment/6dd83a75-8c52-4d2c-895e-4dd6bf4bca94/Travel-Weekly--11-10-2011.aspx), Gary O’Riordan from ATEC stated, “What amazes me is that in a country likeAustralia that is so multi-cultural, where we have a huge Chinese community, wecan’t get people to study tour guiding and get them into the industry. Wecannot find people to go into these [regional] areas and provide languageservices."

O’Riordanis right, that Australia has a large Chinese community. In fact, Australia hasseveral generations of Chinese people living there, many of whom can speakCantonese and more importantly Mandarin.

However,it is important to understand that the majority of Chinese parents in Australiado not see “tourism” and more importantly, “tour guiding” as a true professionthat is respected within Chinese culture. Chinese parents overall, see themselvesas working hard to put their children, through the best education they canafford in order to create the best path to the most respected, highest-payingcareers possible for their children, which simply, is not going to be tour guiding.

Chineseparents work hard to be able to say, “My son is a doctor” or “My daughter is alawyer. It is all about face and respect for them. Therefore, they are notgoing to encourage and perhaps not even allow, their child to become a tourguide.

Furthermore,until it becomes mandatory in Australia for all tour guides to completeand pass, compulsory study, testing, licensing and accreditation at a national(not state) level, tour guiding will not be viewed as a true profession.

Iftourism in Australia cannot attract the much-needed Mandarin speakers that itneeds to cater to the needs of the increasing number of Chinese touristsvisiting here, then this is what is needed:

Withthe assistance of the federal and state governments, investment must be madeurgently into educating and training not only the current front-line tourismworkers and tourism managers in Mandarin and Chinese culture, but also primaryschool and high school students in order to create a growing pool of“China-ready” candidates that will be able to enter the tourism workforce andother industry workforces in the near future.

Relyingon hiring Chinese nationals or similar to solve this major issue is just thesame response the industry took during the Japanese tourism boom, when it hiredloads of Japanese nationals to fill jobs where Japanese language was needed. Itis a short term response that takes away an authentic Australian interactionand experience from these visitors.

The governmentsand tourism industry need to develop and put value into the people who are inthe tourism industry now and prepare a workforce for tomorrow by educating themin school today, to be China Ready – for tourism and other industries.

Chinese tourists are people, not just statistics.

2010-08-24T23:16:00.001+10:00

Imagine having the world chasing after you, wanting your money. And imagine reading about it in newspapers and magazines and watching news reports about it wherever you travel. Imagine being continually labeled an "emerging market" that will solve the tourism industry's continuing problems. Welcome to the world of Chinese tourists!

Since first allowing groups of its people to travel abroad to western countries in 1999, China has become the focus of tourist destinations around the world wanting to attract its people. However, according to one tourism consultant, most destinations are focusing on the statistics, numbers and the potential financial gain from this market, but not the actual people, that is, the Chinese tourists.

"Destinations around the world are spending millions of dollars on attracting tourists from China. However, this is only the first stage in the tourism process," according to Trevor Lee, Managing Director of TravConsult, which specializes in international customer service and tourism development.

"The second, and arguably more important stage, is looking after the Chinese tourists when they reach the destination," says Lee, "but this stage receives far less investment and attention, yet can ultimately determine the Chinese tourists' experience and satisfaction levels and importantly, their total spend while abroad."

TravConsult's General Manager, Lilly Choi-Lee, elaborates saying, "Destinations and tourism businesses alike are concentrating on the potential volume and number of Chinese tourists they could get in the future with statistics forming the body of most reports and media articles on China's outbound travelers. But statistics don't choose hotels or buy souvenirs. People do. This is why Chinese tourists must be understood from a cultural and emotional level in order to give them the tourism experience they are seeking."

Peter Colahan agrees and should know. With over twenty years industry experience, Peter has been one of Australia's pioneers into the Asian and Japanese tourism markets. He was also the key person responsible for bringing 13,600 Amway China incentive delegates to Sydney in 2005.

Colahan, Chief Executive Office of Business Tourism Australia, says, "When Chinese first started traveling, their primary need was for Mandarin-speaking guides and Chinese food. And we provided this in 2005. But now they have become educated, internet-savvy, sophisticated travelers. They make purchase decisions for travel based on value, trends, fashion and emotion. They are not just numbers. And destinations need to learn about them urgently before their competitors wake up."

Lee concludes saying, "Our Chinese Culture and Customer Service Workshops educate participants on the unique cultural needs and customs, service expectations and shopping behavior of Chinese tourists. We continually research the changing needs and expectations of Chinese consumers and travelers in order to ensure that participants receive the most relevant, useful, up-to-date information. This way, we can give a hotel, casino or destination a distinct strategic advantage over competitors by helping them to meet and even exceed the expectations of their valued and much sought after Chinese market; the Chinese people."

Chinese Tourists Welcoming Awards in Beijing, 2008: Presentation by TravConsult – Condensed

2010-08-15T10:44:00.002+10:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Chinese Tourists Welcoming Awards in Beijing, 2008: Presentation by TravConsult – Condensed

View more presentations from Trevor Lee.

In tourism, first impressions count.

2010-06-22T20:11:00.003+10:00

The Cairns Post
16 Jun 2010

Welcome your Chinese visitors to the Year of the Tiger!

2010-02-10T23:04:00.007+11:00

Chinese New Year officially starts on February 14, this year, bringing in the Year of the Tiger, or as it is formally known, "Geng Yin". And many Chinese have made the big decision to spend this important festive period, away from their homeland, visiting other countries and regions for the first time.

Their decision to travel overseas would not have been made lightly, nor quickly as this occasion is highly regarded and celebrated as an important family affair and a time of thanksgiving.

This being the case, it would be interesting to note some of the preparation destinations around the world have undertaken to welcome their Chinese visitors for this festive season.

Countries like America and Canada, which have only recently been granted approved destination status from the Chinese Government, will be doing everything possible to win the hearts and minds of their Chinese visitors, in order to see them depart with positive favorable images and experiences and a strong desire to return again.

Los Angeles in particular will be a favorite for Chinese visitors as it has been publicly celebrating Chinese New Year for more than 100 years and its "Gold Dragon Parade" has truly become a traditional event.

Paris once again is expecting millions of people to take to the streets to enjoy and take part in the Chinese New Year celebrations and parades, while mingling with the thousands of Chinese visitors planning to celebrate there. With a recent report released from Global Refund stating that Chinese visitors are now the highest spending tourists in France, it would make strong sense for business owners in Paris to put on their friendliest of faces to welcome these newly-announced high value customers.

Here in Australia, the beautiful city of Cairns is expecting at least 14,000 Chinese visitors over this Lunar New Year period. Cairns Airport worked hard to get special charter flights in and in conjunction with the regional tourism organization, Tourism Tropical North Queensland, expectations are high for a very successful beginning to the Year of the Tiger.

Last week, we had the exciting opportunity of working with 13 leading tourism suppliers in Cairns who participated in our Chinese Culture and Customer Service Workshop, held at the Hilton Cairns.

These suppliers sent key team members who were serious about learning everything they could that would help them better understand and better look after their Chinese visitors. Organizations represented included Cafe China, Pullman Reef Hotel Casino, Hilton Cairns, Quicksilver Group of Companies, Big Cat Green Island Reef Cruises, TTNQ, Cairns Airport, Discover, Newslink, Bijoux Terner, Sunglass Hut, All Season Cairns Gateway Resort and Sebel Cairns.

In the Workshop, they also learned to appreciate the importance of their Chinese visitors, understanding only too well, that their city of Cairns was chosen as the preferred destination, over Los Angeles, Paris, Sydney and many others.

And ultimately, they also learned to appreciate the value of the "welcome" for their Chinese visitors and how this can impact on future and return business down the track.

Our sincere best wishes go out to all those destinations around the world expecting Chinese visitors, especially Cairns, for a hugely successful launch of the Chinese New Year; welcome your Chinese visitors to the Year of the Tiger!

Xin Nian Hao and Kung Hey Fat Choy from Trevor & Lilly!

The Cairns Post
10 Feb 2010

Attracting Chinese Tourists the Jamaican Way!

2009-08-27T14:17:00.007+10:00

At the Chinese Tourists Welcoming (CTW) Awards held in Beijing on April 22, earlier this year, 19 destinations and companies from around the world were presented with awards for providing excellent services and products for the growing outbound tourism market from China. Winners came from Finland, Switzerland, the UK, Tanzania, Jamaica, Mexico, the USA, Dubai, South Africa, Thailand, Portugal, Austria and China.

As a judge for these Awards, I was fortunate to read and study each CTW Award application, and one in particular stood out; that from the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB). JTB ended up winning the Gold Award for Service Quality at this year's event having won the Gold Award for Internet & Media at the 2008 event, an outstanding achievement indeed!

Outstanding, because only in 2005, did Jamaica gain Approved Destination Status from China. Not long after, JTB identified that their biggest challenge to attracting Chinese tourists was that Chinese people hardly knew anything about Jamaica, its location and its’ potential as a destination for travel.

Since then, JTB has strategically invested in enlisting help, advice and expertise from experienced people and organizations who understood China well, Chinese people, Chinese culture, Chinese consumer behavior, China travel markets, their unique service expectations, doing business in China and very importantly, the growing interest and usage of the internet in China.

For example, JTB enlisted the China Business Network (CBN), which specializes in providing foreign businesses with consulting services and marketing activities in China. JTB commissioned CBN to develop its Chinese web site www.visitjamaica.com.cn with the purpose of raising the awareness of Jamaica among the travel trade as well as would be travelers throughout China.

CBN achieved this by positioning JTB's Chinese website on what many Chinese business people refer to as the "China Wide Web", a China-wide "on-line information service system based in the Chinese language, utilizing state of the art Internet and Intranet technology to deliver the latest sought-after information and exclusive market intelligence to targeted subscribers."

CBN also assisted JTB by advising on booth positioning at trade fairs and exhibitions in China as well as giving continuous language support from their multi-lingual staff. Furthermore, all JTB collateral materials were printed in Chinese, an absolute must-do activity when presenting or exhibiting in China.

Well supported tourism events in China which JTB participated were the China Outbound Travel and Tourism Market (COTTM) in Beijing and the China International Travel Mart (CITM) in Kunming.

JTB connected with and built relationships with influential news media in China ensuring continuous reports and press releases about Jamaica as a destination were being published. JTB also held special events and PR activities in China, such as "Jamaica in China Week" to build presence and gain exposure among the travel trade in China and Chinese consumers.

JTB has strategically used both Chinese and Jamaican celebrities for events and famils in both countries to generate media and public interest. For example, Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt met top Chinese tour operators in China to showcase Jamaica as, "the home country of the World's fastest man!"

Another example was when JTB organised for Ciu Jian, known as the Godfather of rock music in China, to visit Jamaica along with 10 top key tour operators from China, at the same time as an official government delegation from China including the Chinese Vice-President was visiting the Caribbean nation. Again, the focus was on gaining positive exposure and attention for Jamaica as a destination for Chinese travellers; an ongoing activity.

In order to educate suppliers and stakeholders within the Jamaican tourism industry itself, a China Outbound Workshop was held where guest speakers included China experts Dr Adam Wu from the China Business Network and Professor Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt from the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI).

The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) have just announced that another nine nations have been granted Approved Destination Status, these being the United Arab Emirates, Guyana, Ecuador, Dominic, Mali, Cape Verde, Ghana, Papua New Guinea and Montenegro.

These countries could do well to study the path of Jamaica and its national tourist board, its strategy to utilize professional expertise, its ongoing focus on building and maintaining positive relationships with China, its government, its travel trade and media, and its desire to understand and look after Chinese tourists. As Confucius once stated, "Study the past if you would define the future".

(The above article was originally published on this blog on August 11, 2009.)