Wolfgang Georg Arlt - Chinese Outbound Tourism and Web Economy

www.china-outbound.com
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Chinese Outbound Tourism
and Web Economy
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt
COTRI
CESENA March 23, 2014

COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute
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The world's leading independent research institute for
information, training, quality assessment, research and
consulting relating to the Chinese outbound tourism market
Established: 2004
Offices: Heide (Germany), Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou (China)
COTRI Country Partner in: Argentina, Australia, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Cambodia, Chile, Croatia, England, Estonia, Finland, France,
Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia,
Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, New
Zealand, Peru, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand,
Tunisia, USA, Vietnam, Wales
COTRI Germany Headquarter:
Fritz-Thiedemann-Ring 20
25746 Heide / Germany
Phone +49 481 85 55 523
Fax +49 481 85 55 121
Email info@china-outbound.com
COTRI China Headquarter:
Suite 412 Lido Office Tower
6 Jiangtai Road
Beijing 100004
Phone +86 10 6417 9226
Email china@china-outbound.com
COTRI Office Shanghai:
Suite 1512 Shui On Plaza
333 Huaihai Rd.
Shanghai 200021
COTRI Office Guangzhou:
Suite 2412 South Tower WTC
371-375 Huanshi East Rd.
Guangzhou 510095

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Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt FRGS
First visit to People’s Republic of China in 1978
1991-1999 owner of Inbound Tour Operator
China -> Europe (offices in Beijing and Berlin)
COTRI founder and director since 2004
Professor for International Tourism Management
at West Coast University of Applied Sciences (Heide)
Visiting Professor at universities in China and
United Kingdom
Fellow Royal Geographical Society (London)
Research Fellow Japanese Society for the Promotion
of Science (Tokyo)
Latest publication:
Editor of
Zhang Guangrui:
China’s Tourism Development
COTRI eBook 2013
COTRI Blog at Forbes.com:
www.forbes.com/sites/profdrwolfganggarlt
Editor:
China Outbound Market
Intelligence
COTRI founder and director

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COTRI in the press

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COTRI around the world

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COTRI Country Partners

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CHINA – INTERNATIONAL TOURISM SOURCE MARKET NO. 1 IN THE WORLD
IN TERMS OF BORDER-CROSSINGS

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CHINA – INTERNATIONAL TOURISM SOURCE MARKET NO. 1 IN THE WORLD
IN TERMS OF SPENDING

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The People’s Republic of China is since 2012 the biggest international
tourism market in the world, with almost 100 million border-crossings and
close to 100 billion Euro spending, representing 9% of the global tourism.
For Europe it is the fastest growing market and the market with the
highest spending per day per traveller.
So certainly for the main destinations and attractions (in Italy: Venice,
Florence, Milano, Roma) a growing part of the mass market will be
Chinese-speaking.
For other destinations and activities in more specific location (wine
tasting in wine-growing regions, university cities, places of cultural
interest, places related to Chinese-European relations etc.) the more
experienced self-organised travellers are an interesting target group.

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Especially for the self-organised travellers Chinese social media like
SinaWeibo, QQ, etc. (different from Western social media) are the main
source of information and are much more actively used than European
social media. Famous travel bloggers have millions of followers, some
celebrities have more than 50 million followers.
WeChat is the first Chinese social media application now also conquering
the West. The biggest former “OTA”s (Online Travel Agencies) like CTrip (by
now the biggest travel agency/tour operator in the world) have recently
changed their name to “MTA” because more than half of the customers
are not using PCs anymore to access their services but smartphones and
tablets.
For Chinese social media clearly UGC is the only thing that counts,
information by peer group members is trusted, all other information
including websites is identified as advertisement in different forms.

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1 bn. Yuan = 116 mio. Euro

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Consequences for smaller Italian destinations – One example
Offline to online shopping

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Offline to online (O2O) shopping
With the turn from sightseeing to experience and from brand to lifestyle,
Chinese self-organised travellers look for authentic, exotic, special products
and unique shopping experiences while travelling.
Until now: A pioneering Chinese finds Marchi‘s Printing House and buys some
hand-made prints. He uploads the photos about it during his trip, after return to
China he shows the fabric to his friends. All would like to have some to, but, alas,
no way to buy them.
With O2O: The same Chinese provider who produced the App which guides
Chinese tourists to Marchi‘s Printing House, offers a online shop in China, where
the fabrics can be bought in Chinese language, paying in RMB.
Secured transaction, which can be trusted by the Chinese buyer, brings Euros to
the Marchi family and the fabric to China.

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If the online shop is personalised, so that the same persons who sold the fabric to
the pioneer appear in the online shop and maybe even
answer emails „personally“ or offer a chat once a
week, even better:
The original shopping experience can almost be recreated in the living room in
Shanghai when together with the pioneer his friends order from Marchis while
drinking a bottle of wine ordered O2O from the friendly people in the Osteria
Michiletta in Cesena.
For an

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For an accidental success story of O2O, look at Bobbie, the Tasmanian Lavender
Bear at my Forbes.com blog:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/profdrwolfganggarlt/2013/12/16/
social-media-bring-tasmanian-lavender-bear-into-chinese-bedrooms-
china-outbound-tourism-best-practice-example/

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Viann Zhang Xinyu

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Thank you for your attention!
Contact
COTRI China Outbound Tourism Research Institute
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt
Tel. +49 481 8555 523
Mail arlt@china-outbound.com
Web www.china-outbound.com
Blog www.forbes.com/sites/profdrwolfganggarlt/

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