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Social Media, Reaching the
Holiday Golfer from China.
The number of outbound
tourists leaving China
reached 37.92 million in
the first five months this
year, up 17.3 percent
compared with the same
period in 2012, according
to China National Tourism
Administration (CNTA) statistics.
Having recently returned from an extensive
trip through eight countries in Asia, I’d like to
share a few thoughts on using Social Media
to reach out to tourists in international market. It was little more than a year ago that
we shared comments on the use of Social
Media in hospitality marketing. I’d like to be
a bit more specific in this issue by addressing
how there could be changes in the use of
Social Media by hotels in Indonesia to reach
the large and expanding outbound tourism
market from China.
Trade shows and conferences are filled with
advice on expanding marketing opportunities through the use of the “Big Three”, predominantly Facebook, Twitter and Google.
After all, these have been effective marketing channels in the western world.
Indonesian hotels have created Facebook
pages to connect with their regular guests
and attract new travelers through English
and Bahasa Indonesian posts providing
updates and future promotions. They’ve
used Twitter for shorter, more time sensitive messages, most likely to promote lastminute specials to fill remaining rooms.
These are effective means to increase the
public’s awareness of the hotel, to increase
volume and revenue per guest. Each should
be a part of the hotel’s regular marketing
mix.
www.hotelier-indonesia.com
However, its important to note that
Facebook & Twitter are banned in China.
As tech-savvy as one may think they are, it
takes a bit of work for to “unblock” Facebook
and Twitter while traveling within China. A
resident in China could access both through
a Virtual Private Network (VPN) based in
Europe or North America if it was of interest.
Rather than using a costly VPN, most residents of China will likely use one of the
leading Social Media micro-blogs in China.
These are very similar to Facebook and
Twitter, but are much more widely used
throughout China.
But that is precisely the market many hotels
should be addressing.
International airlines and hotel groups have
been addressing the Chinese tourists by
creating corporate accounts. A frequent
feed comes in from Air France through their
account: http://e.weibo.com/airfrancechina
International Hotel Group (IHG) also
maintains a presence at http://e.weibo.
com/210104066 These are effective and
personal means for international groups to
address the needs and concerns of