“Get ready for the Chinese” – Australia tells tourism businesses
Australia has urged the country’s tourism operators to prepare for a wave of Chinese tourists.
Tourism Australia recently ramped up its marketing activities in the country, launching the global promotional campaign ‘There’s Nothing Like Australia’ in Shanghai, and increasing marketing spent in China by more than 40%. This is all working towards Tourism Australia’s goal of more than doubling revenues generated by Chinese visitors to AU$9 billion (US$9.1 billion) by 2020.
“The increase in resources simply reflects the size and scale of the outbound travel opportunity presented by China. China is now our fastest growing and the most valuable overseas tourism market, delivering more than half a million-plus visitors and AU$3.8 billion in spending in 2011,” said Tourism Australia’s Managing Director, Andrew McEvoy.
Tourism Australia’s ‘China 2020’ strategic plan is a key element in the government’s broader ‘Tourism 2020’ strategy, aimed at doubling overnight visitor expenditure to up to AU$140 billion by 2020.
McEvoy believes its ambitions will be significantly aided by the new Asia Marketing Fund, announced by the Australian government in the recent 2012-13 budget. This will deliver an additional AU$61 million to Tourism Australia’s budget over the next four years, helping to accelerate its development plans in China.
But McEvoy cautioned that taking advantage of the rise in China’s outbound market requires more than just additional resources and marketing campaigns, and called on Australia’s tourism operators to do more to cater to Chinese tourists.
“We know from our research that our global campaign resonates extremely well in China but, whilst this is great, it’s only part of the equation. You can build all the demand you want through compelling ads, but if the actual experience fails to deliver on the promise, you end up doing more harm than good.
“[We have] identified a number of critical areas where work is needed to achieve China’s tourism potential and win market share. And even though it’s still very early days, I do feel we’re making solid progress in some key areas,” McEvoy said.
“If we’re not fully prepared, the ‘Asian Century’ will pass us by. The great news is that we’re starting to see the industry really embrace this opportunity by adapting their business to meet the needs of Chinese visitors,” he added.
Examples of this include Accor rolling out a new range of hotel amenities and facilities for Chinese guests, the Jacob’s Creek Visitor Centre in South Australia employing Mandarin speaking staff and Chinese language marketing materials, and Merlin Entertainments offering multi-lingual brochures, maps and signage at its Aussie attractions.
Tourism Australia itself recently boosted its China team with the appointment of a new Regional Manager for Greater China, Eva Huang.