Chinese Tourism
The Key to China and other Emerging Market Tourists
What is the single most important aspect for the long-term success of any hotel? Returning customers whose experience was so stellar that they vocalize it in the form of writing rave online-reviews and recommending the hotel to their network. As we know, this doesn’t happen when customer service is “satisfactory.” According to Bain & Company, approximately 80% of customers who take their business elsewhere characterize themselves as “satisfied” before switching to the competition. Deloitte found that 62% of customers read online reviews and 82% of those customers say purchase decisions have been directly influenced by the reviews. Similarly, dissatisfied customers are very costly. Statistically, 96% of unhappy customers never return and an average customer with a complaint tells 9 to 10 people.
So what is the key to transforming a guest’s stay from satisfactory to one which is outstanding enough to vocalize, simultaneously minimizing the risk for unhappy customers? The key is to understand the customer. Without understanding their customers, hoteliers will have a very hard time reaching them, convincing them, or deliver a superior experience, and hotels run the risk of making errors and lose business or generate unhappy customers. Successful hotels leaves a guest feeling appreciated, respected, and understood.
Changing Landscape
There was a time when international tourism was characterized by Western travelers going abroad, however, the rising disposable income in countries such as India, China, Indonesia, South-Korea, and Vietnam have changed the international tourism market. In the state of California alone, Chinese visitors spent US$2 billion in 2010, the most of all international visitors. The rise of the emerging market traveler is identified as the predominant trend in Deloitte’s Hospitality 2015 outlook.
The challenge for the Western hospitality industry is that guests from East Asia are considerably culturally diverse from Western guests. Remember, the key is to understand the guest. But in order to understand the emerging market traveler hoteliers need a framework for cross-cultural understanding.
If a hotel’s marketing message to Chinese prospects revolves around speedy service in a culture where agrarian rhythms run long and time is not of the essence, then it is sending a message that will not lead to bookings. If the sales department is using a hard sell in a culture where communication is finessed through indirect communication, the conversation will end almost as soon as it begins. If front desk staff is joking informally with guests who come from a hierarchal and formal society, a guest may lose “face”. Losing face is the worst thing that can happen to a Chinese traveler. In short – disaster.
Some hoteliers have the luxury of tailoring entire programs to accommodate Chinese travelers; Hilton Worldwide launched such a program (“Hilton Huanying”) last summer in 30 destinations. But most hotels would not opt for this solution; while all customers want cultural respect and appreciation, many seek more of an authentic local experience.
Framework for Understanding
Hoteliers that want to successfully attract Chinese guests should start by looking at Cultural Threads. Chinese cultural threads are rooted in folk belief and Confucian values, for instance filial piety, thrift, perseverance, and trustworthiness. These values are deeply engrained in guests’ perceptions and expectations. One thing in particular that has caught the eye of hoteliers is Chinese concerns over having their own kind of food, especially for breakfast. For many Chinese an ethnically traditional breakfast acts as a “security blanket” of familiarity.
In East Asian cultures Communication is very subtle and indirect and thus, the direct style of Western communication can easily create serious offense, despite the best of intentions. The term “no,” for example, is rarely used in deference to more indirect methods of communicating. Failure to understand simple but subtle issues in communication may cause both the hotel staff member and the guest to lose “face.”
An understanding of Group Dynamics in the target culture, significantly impacts the sales process. In individualistic cultures, such as the United States, customers make most of their buying decisions individually, whereas in collectivistic cultures, decisions are significantly influenced by the group (family, extended family, network of friends and colleagues, and the community at large). In China or Korea, highly collectivist cultures, the hotel’s marketing collateral and sales process need to be targeted toward the group and not toward the individual traveler. Marketing collateral would depict a group rather than a solitary guest.
Time Orientation is an important aspect of hospitality that is often overlooked without a cross-cultural framework. Two-thirds of the world does not view time the way Westerners do. While many of us see time as a limited commodity that must be carefully managed, many cultures do not see punctuality as a virtue above other.
A striking time difference between China and Western countries is the extreme long-term orientation of the Chinese culture. This long-term orientation materializes in several ways, Chinese are very economical; wastefulness is despised and value for money is paramount; but expenses such as children’s education and international experiences (which has long-term benefits) are prioritized.
Much to Do
East Asian tourists still prefer to travel within Asia. A recent University of South Carolina study indicates that the U.S. is viewed as “unfamiliar” and “unsafe” by Chinese tourists. Therefore, the singular most significant area of optimization is increased cross-cultural understanding which will undoubtedly be crucial to bridging the gap between “here” and “home.”
Universal Consensus will make sure your marketing as well as your services are tailored to be successful in the new global tourism landscape. Contact us today for your complimentary evaluation to determine how we can help you succeed globally.
By Andreas Fried, Director of Business Development, Universal Consensus. This article was also published on eHotelier.com
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Sources:
Business Model of Intercultural Analysis (BMIA)©
Survey by Deloitte’s Consumer Products group (2007)
Bain & Company Survey (2010)
Deloitte rapport: Hospitality 2015: Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Trends (2011)
University of South Carolina: China-U.S. Comparison (2011)
