We all know there are more and more Chinese tourists coming to Australia and they spend more and more money as well.
The chart below from Tourism Australia clearly showed the sharp and continuous increase of Chinese visitors to Australia in the past five years and the money they spent.
2013-2018 Chinese Visitors & Spending (Source: Tourism Australia Website)
Chinese visitors are also the largest and most valuable tourists in Queensland. According to TIQ (Trade & Investment Queensland), there are over half a million Chinese tourists visited Queensland and spent over one billion in 2017. It is about $2,000 per person spent in Queensland.
However, according to Tourism Australia, Chinese visitors spent 10 billion in Australia with the average spending per trip reaching $8,455 per person. It seems Chinese tourists spent much less in Queensland.
In fact, no matter how many Chinese visitors visited Australia or Queensland, it is the number of Chinese visitors who visited your place that counters. To be more clear, it is the “money” the Chinese visitors spent on your services or goods that bring you the profit.
So many businesses are trying to attract Chinese visitors and there is so much advice on how to attract Chinese visitors and be “China Ready”.
TEQ (Tourism & Events Queensland) has put many resources on their website to help you “Become China Ready“.
Firstly, you can read “Queensland Asia Tourism Strategy”, and learn more about strategy. You can read it online (55 pages).
Secondly, you can learn the “China Masterclass” organised by Destination Q on YouTube. There are a total of 11 workshops. There are other Masterclasses on their website as well.
Thirdly, you can now read all the factsheets and get yourself ready for Chinese visitors. To help you read all these factsheets, I added the list below with links:
- China Ready Factsheet
- Chinese Traveller Factsheet
- Chinese Cultural Overview
- Understanding the Chinese Independent Traveller
- Chinese Visitor Expectation
- Communication in Chinese
You can continue to learn about “Digital Marketing for the China Market” on Youtube or learn Mandarin online.
If you still want to know more, the website also gives you the link to “Tourism Australia’s China 2020 Strategy Plan”
As mentioned at the “Export to China” panel discussion organised by ACBC QLD, one of the biggest challenges for Australian businesses to do business with China is “too much”; too much information, too many competitors and too many experts. For your business, it is important to have a focus. This is especially true for SMEs who are mainly time poor and cash tight.
To keep focus, we believe you only need to do THREE things:
1. Have a Wechat account:
Wechat is the most popular social medial in China. It is very easy to set up and use as a communication tool with your Chinese consumers. Cannot speak Chinese? No worries! The WeChat translation function works very well for daily conversation and more and more Chinese visitors can speak English now. WeChat marketing is not hard either. (We can help set you up and begin your advertising).
2. Give Freebies
Chinese visitors like freebies. Free WiFi is very important for Chinese visitors. They always work on their phone to keep in contact with their families and friends and to show off what they see, eat and think. Free WiFi can help them post photos of your place. If you believe “there is no free lunch”, then ask them to scan your WeChat QR code to get access to the WiFi, so you can grow your customer base. Chinese shoppers like bargaining. To help them dig deeper into their pocket, you can give freebies to stimulate their purchasing. You can learn this by visiting souvenir shops for Chinese visitors and you will see many “Buy Three Get One Free” posters. If you do not want to go down that way (too commercial), then prepare some freebies when they purchase over an amount that can earn you more money to buy double or even more of the “Freebies”. Do not give cheap “freebies”, something of “YOU” is more important. For example, a T-shirt with your logo or humorous phrases. If you have nothing to give free, prepare some FREE hot water for them to refill their tea. Put on a poster “Free to take photos”.
3. Be China Ready but keep your Australian authenticity
Chinese visitors came a long way to Australia to see Australia. Speaking Mandarin is important, but people connect by heart. When you learn Mandarin for business, you need to learn by the heart, not by the head. One famous CEO of a big company once said he learns Mandarin to show his respect for Chinese culture and the Chinese language. All the business discussions are conducted in English, but Chinese clients like his attitude so they are connected by the heart.
To help local small and medium businesses to attract Chinese visitors and benefit from their visiting and shopping, Lyrebird Language Centre offers a free consultation to help you get “China Ready” and then assist you to go through the “China Pathway”.
If you want to know more, please contact us.