Chinese Travel to the USA

[dwaldron124]

Hello, I have been trying to do some research on how Chinese citizens book international travel because I have recently seen an uptick in bookings from China. Information has been difficult to sort through and a little vague. The Chinese guests I have met have urged me to advertise in China and with travel companies because they have said my villas,which have fully equipped kitchens and living rooms, are perfect for Chinese travelers. I manage 2 & 3 Bedroom villas in Orlando, Florida next to the Orange County Convention Center, which is the second largest in the country and very close to all the theme parks. These guests have come mainly through Booking.com, which has a large overseas presence. My question is what are the major channels for Chinese travel and what are the major travel companies in China for the Chinese people? I have also read that Chinese travelers prefer booking through tour groups. Is this the case? Thank you!

-Daniel

[drencrom]

LOL. Take the seats off your toilets because the Chinese will just stand on them and break them.

[imron]

Ctrip.com and Elong.com are two major online travel booking sites. Qunar.com is also popular.

It might be difficult to navigate these sites if you don't speak any Chinese. Qunar at least has an English contact page for hotel providers and the like.

[Cat Jones]

People in China still go into travel agents offices - old skool. You could try contacting some in the major cities - a Google search will bring them up.

You should set up a presence on the Chinese social networks (Weibo, Youku, QQ...) - but you probably need to hire a Chinese speaker to help you with this.

[skylee]

It has just occurred to me that Taiwan citizens can now visit the US visa-free -> Republic of China (Taiwan) becomes the 37th country to be included in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program

Which means that there might be more visitors from Taiwan and you might also focus on attracting travellers from Taiwan. IMHO, people from Taiwan are usually much more cultured, civilised and well-behaved. And they are just as rich. I have no idea how you can do better to promote your place to them, though.

If you want to attract Chinese visitors from HK, you don't need to worry about the language. HK travellers who are likely to stay at your place will most likely understand English, and they tend to use international websites.

[dwaldron124]

LoL now you all have scared! "stand on my toilet seats"?! "people from Taiwan are more well-behaved?" oh dear! Thanks for the tips though!

[xiaocai]

It's not that we prefer groups but rather most of us can only go as tour groups as individual US tourist visa application is difficult to get approved for a mainland Chinese citizen. Also most mainland Chinese are not fluent in English and therefore are not encouraged traveling alone under many circumstances.

Anyways, among the 3 websites imron mentioned above, Qunar.com is probably a better one for your business as it better categorised with search options like self contained accommodation, and also a dedicated channel for independent, character hotels to promote themselves, since yours don't fall in to the traditional hotel types which mainland Chinese tourists are most familiar with. And it is also very popular. This page has all their business contacts in Chinese. They do provide business services in English if you are not familiar with the language, but don't expect too high on its proficiency.

All the best to your business and hope you will have a relatively pleasant time dealing with mainland Chinese customers, allegedly one of the most difficult customers of the world, in the future.

[roddy]

I'm not sure the preference for groups is just visas - a huge amount of domestic travel is also done in groups, and there are no visa concerns there. I think it's also a matter of cost, and the fact that generally Chinese people think that groups are more fun.

For reference, Elong is closely partnered with Expedia, one of its major shareholders. Getting good exposure on Expedia may therefore be an easy route in, and you could perhaps get in touch with them directly - if you provide Chinese translations of your content could they, blah blah blah.

Your local Chinatown travel agents are likely to have travel industry links in China. But to be honest, I'm not sure what size the market is - independent travel, to the US, and staying in a self-catering villa, is still pretty unusual in China. Sure, the guests you've already had say your place is great, but they would - they've self-selected for staying there. The tour group staying in the motel round the corner may well regard it as too expensive, and think the kitchen is a waste of time - they're here to eat out! I suspect any marketing done by mass-market channels might be less effective than something targeting your customers more directly - ie, glossy travel mags, airline magazines, that kind of thing.

All guesses though....