1. Understanding the Chinese
market and where it’s going?
Results taken from the real time (Oct 2016) monitoring of social media chatter inside China
about Phuket.

2. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
#1 - Main concerns today’s Chinese customers
have with …
– Technology
– Hotels
– Independents
– Groups/Tours
– Transportation

3. #2 – BOOKING TRENDS - Direct V’s Agent sites
#3 – TOP 5 SEARCH TERMS
#4 – MARRIOTT REPORT: YOUNG LUXURY
CHINESE TRAVELER
#5 – REPORT: CHINESE SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYERS

4. #6 – TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS
#7 – HOTEL EXAMPLES WECHAT ACCOUNTS

5. #1 – CHINESE TOURISTS MAIN
CONCERNS
Top concerns
Extra tip in airport
Poor Wi-Fi in hotel
Dirty airport
Poor communication between online travel companies and local hotels
Transportations
Language barriers

6. TECHNOLOGY PROBLEM’s (Wi-Fi):
– Happy card or portable Wi-Fi
– No Wi-Fi on beaches
– Wi-Fi charges extra RMB40/hr in hotel
AIRPORT
– Charging extra tip after landing
– Bad environment-dirty ground

7. INDEPENDENT TRAVEL CONCERNS
1. Transportation – they don’t know best places
to find
2. Will they have Wi-Fi?
3. Language barriers
4. Reservations on Agoda is higher than others
5. How many minutes ride to hotel?

8. ONLINE TRAVEL COMPANY PROBLEMS
1. Over 80% of disputes are due to poor
communication between online travel
companies and local hotels
2. Ctrip forcing people to stop and shop
3. Problems with cancelled trips on LY.com

9. TRANSPORTATION
1. Which ones are the more cost-effective?
2. Airport shuttle bus not convenient
3. How far to destinations, traveling blind
4. Want to have GPS Maps & Chinese directions

10. MAIN HOTEL COMPLAINTS
1. Front desk staff didn’t provide Chinese
language services, difficult to communicate.
2. Wi-Fi – Not always readily available
3. Transportation pick up not clear
4. Hygiene
5. No tooth brush or tooth paste provided

11. #2 – BOOKING DIRECT v’S AGENTS
Still very much the minority as the majority of Chinese have their
credit cards on file with the major tour operators and they offer
lowest price guarantees along with all the details on their
mobile devices, very accessible with instant customer service
via messaging apps like WeChat.

12. #3 – TOP 5 SEARCH TERMS
1. Airline tickets
2. Attractions when traveling to
Phuket
3. Weddings in Phuket, Photos
4. Phuket/China (website)
5. What country is Phuket

13. #4 –MARRIOTT REPORT
Generation Y Chinese Luxury Travelers Come of Age, The Chinese Luxury Traveler 2016
• According to statistics from the International Tourism Organization, in 2015,
Chinese tourists spent over US$215 billion, 53% higher than the previous year,
becoming the largest outbound tourist group in the world.
• The data included in this White Paper was sourced from 525 young luxury
travelers who spend over RMB4200,000 annually (2.1M THB) on travel and
tourism. More than half of them are 2nd generation of a wealthy family or heirs of
a family business; they have many assets, are young and energetic, have sufficient
time for travel and leisure and are active on social networks.
• They favor hotels that provide high-tech digital equipment, like Wi-Fi (73%) and
Smart TVs (55%), which offer not only a more enjoyable stay but also more
intimate, personalized and convenient service. They prefer brands and hotels with
unique art and design that make the travel experience feel unique and fun.

14. • Mobile phones are essential to the young luxury traveler. They use their mobile
phone to communicate via WeChat (79%), to browse the Internet (61%), to view
photos (58%) and to shop online (56%).

15. #6 – MARY MEEKERS INTERNET
REPORT

16. #7 – TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

17. WeChat Official Accounts … #1
Customer Service Tool
• Over 750,000,000 active monthly users
• Has to be owned by company in China
• Over 75% of users use for more than 45 Mins a day
• Service accounts allow you to publish 1 article a week
• Service accounts allow up to 5 customer service reps to use
• Video consumption is the highest growth rate
• Advertising only for the huge brands right now
• Content is king & Influencers (KOL’s) are queen
• WeChat shop – sell your products direct through the app
• Started as a location based dating and messaging app
• On par to pass Facebook in revenue in the next 12 months.

18. #7 – GREAT EXAMPLES

19. SMART HOTEL – THE LINQ HOTEL
Ceasars Entertainment partnered up recently with WeChat to
enable visitors to control their hotel room via WeChat at The
LINQ Hotel & Casino. The experience goes as such:
• Download the latest version of the WeChat app
• Once in your hotel room, scan a room-specific QR code
• Follow the specific instructions
This new tech turns the WeChat app into a remote that
allows visitors to control all of their room’s functions,
including control lightning, thermostats and curtains, lock
doors, and much more!

20. Inside WeChat …