Golden Week tourism revenue reached $40.4 billion

Given China’s zero-Covid policy and clusters of lockdowns, this year’s Golden Week tourism income is instructive. The seven-day national holiday is also the most profitable week of the year, indicating local economy and consumer confidence.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourists reported that throughout the course of the seven-day celebrations, 422 million people traveled within the nation, generating $40.4 billion in domestic tourism earnings (287.2 billion RMB). Travel and expenditure, however, were down 39.3 and 56.8 percent, respectively, from pre-pandemic levels. On a more upbeat note, the National Day holiday saw 70% more travelers than the Spring Festival this year, while per capita travel spending increased by 30% from the same time the previous year.

The performance of top-tier cities and consumer trends are especially indicative at this time as tourism and customers’ confidence progressively revive. 52 important retail areas in the city had a combined 31.9 million visits throughout the course of Golden Week. Revenue from online and offline sales was $1.09 billion (7.84 billion RMB), up 5.4% from the previous year.

The night economy is driving spending. In order to entice locals and visitors and increase spending, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce established the “Night at the capital” campaign, which involved handing out shopping vouchers and holding cultural activities all throughout the city. In compared to the same time last year, the effort saw a 9.1% rise.

Shanghai, the financial center of China, topped the list with $9.23 billion in online and offline spending (66.3 billion RMB). It’s noteworthy that internet consumption not only fully recovered but also rose by 2.9 percent annually to $3.55 billion (25.5 billion RMB). This was primarily fueled by the city’s “Love Shopping Shanghai” digital coupons, which had a total value of more than $18.8 million (135 million RMB).

The Chinese port city of Guangzhou has gained appeal as the number of tourists traveling to cultural areas increases. During the event, the southern province staged close to 400 cultural events. More than 8.56 million visitors have visited the city, according to early estimates from the Guangzhou municipal office of culture, radio, television, and tourism.

Not to mention, tough Covid regulations continue to have an impact on the nation’s vacation region of Hainan. Travelers were subjected to restrictions over the vacation, including caps on the number of people allowed in businesses and parks, temperature readings, and negative nucleic acid testing. The region’s rehabilitation has been hampered by the limitations. Less than one-third of last year’s visitors and earnings, 1.32 million tourists visited the duty-free island between October 1 and 7, bringing in $221.6 million (1.59 billion RMB).

This demonstrates the many strategies firms are doing to compete to survive despite the difficulties, from the night economy to cultural sites.

How can companies in the tourism sector attract Chinese tourists during Golden Week?

Working on branding is crucial if you want Chinese tourists to pick your hotel, restaurant, etc. In reality, in this time of crisis brought on by COVID-19, firms should concentrate on increasing brand exposure and brand awareness in order to draw tourists.

So how can tourism companies increase branding?

Get good reviews on Social media, tourists, and Q&A platforms

The first thing Chinese customers would look for before booking reviews. The Chinese customers need to be reassured: the more reviews your services have, the better it will be. The reviews must be many, but also good and detailed.

The reviews on the official website are not the ones the Chinese will rely on the most, while they would believe more on social media, Q&A (Zhihu), and tourist platforms where customers share their opinions and feedback.

Have an account on Chinese booking channels

The majority of Chinese visitors book their travel through Chinese websites like Ctrip, Mafengwo, and Fliggy, thus it’s crucial to have an account on these platforms and support Wechat Pay and Alipay for payments.

You may also utilize advertising on these networks to reach Chinese visitors more quickly, but they do not view it as being very reliable. On these channels, they rely more on user reviews and comments.

Having a Chinese website on Baidu and implementing a good SEO strategy

Baidu is the Chinese Google. To rank, your website needs to be hosted in China, get an ICP license, and be in Mandarin as Baidu knows only Mandarin and gives priority to websites hosted in China.

The Chinese will most of the time not use your website to book anything (as we said before, they will prefer to use the platforms and apps), but it is necessary to:

  • have one so they can find all the information centralized in the same place,
  • have a window that gives you authority and reliability in the eyes of the Chinese.

Open Chinese social media accounts

Having social media accounts like Wechat, Weibo, and Xiahongshu is a great start for reaching Chinese consumers. These platforms are the best way to attract potential tourists by sharing people’s experiences, so a brand should open a Chinese social media account to promote the brand’s value and products.

Don’t forget that video sharing and live streaming on Chinese social media are very important to build brand awareness.

GMA can help you attract Chinese tourists

Gentlemen Marketing Agency is a Digital Marketing Agency that is expert in helping foreign companies to establish or strengthen their position in China. Contact us!

We offer several services that can help you to attract Chinese tourists like social media management, KOL collaboration, Baidu SEO, Zhihu marketing, Ctrip registration, and so on.

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