Foreign visitors enjoy Chongqing cuisine at a food street in Jiangbei District, Chongqing. (Photo by Liu Li/Visual Chongqing)
Chongqing - "China Travel" has become the key to unlocking the global tourism market, with the topic's engagement exceeding 1 billion posts on TikTok and videos with this hashtag on YouTube often starting at 100,000 views.
At the end of last year, China further relaxed its visa-free transit policy, extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travelers to 240 hours, or 10 days. "Going to China after work on Friday" has become the new internet buzzword.
With the booming prospects of inbound tourism, Dai Bin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of China Tourism Academy, suggested at China’s Two Sessions this year to "build a first-stop city for inbound tourism," with Chongqing being one of the key cities for development.
Heartfelt marketing for individual travelers
The Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, with its stunning landscape, was among the first scenic spots in China to be introduced to the world after the reform and opening-up. It ranks alongside the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors. The cruise-based Three Gorges tour is also a flagship product of Chongqing's inbound tourism market.
"Our company started from a travel agency, and the Three Gorges route has always been a focus. We’ve greatly benefited from the development of the Three Gorges tourism," said Xie Yu, Deputy General Manager of Chongqing Century Cruises Co., Ltd., responsible for marketing in Europe and the U.S.
For the past 30 years, the expansion of the Three Gorges tour in overseas markets has mainly relied on agents. In the North American market, for instance, cruise products had to go through domestic travel agencies, which then subcontracted to overseas agents. This resulted in profits being eaten up at multiple levels, and the brand’s influence was significantly diminished, according to Xie.
In 2019, Chongqing Century Cruises established a North American branch in Los Angeles to seize the international market and fully ramped up efforts with the rise of "China Travel." With China further relaxing its visa-free transit policy, foreign tourists are finding it easier to enter the country. As a result, the inbound tourism market is gradually shifting towards a trend of more personalized, individualized, fragmented, youthful, and in-depth travel experiences.
"Our marketing strategy was quickly adapted to a 'direct sales + channel' dual-track approach, with a particular emphasis on direct sales to individual tourists," Xie explained.
Last year, his company participated in over 50 major overseas exhibitions and hosted more than 40 product briefings targeting both general tourists and business partners. The company also launched topics such as "CenturyCruises" on international social platforms, generating over 20 million global clicks and shares. As a result, he added that Chongqing Century Cruises welcomed 35,000 inbound tourists last year, doubling the number from the previous year.
According to Xie, after getting used to traditional channel marketing strategies, reaching individual tourists requires a change in mindset: ordinary tourists care more about the scenery, activities, and uniqueness of the experience, with a greater emphasis on the product itself.
"This means we need to understand what foreign tourists are interested in and tailor our marketing accordingly."
One experience that left a deep impression on Xie was when a foreign tourist showed great interest in Chinese medicine, high-speed trains, railway passing through buildings, QR code payments, and robots. "These things, which are commonplace to us, are highly attractive to foreign tourists and present a great marketing opportunity," he said.
"Another time, when we were doing marketing, we specially invited a local to share their experience. He had married a Chinese wife and was an expert on China. The whole session went really well. From a local’s perspective, he spoke about the Chinese elements that local tourists were most interested in." Xie added that a good international marketing strategy can't just be a monologue. It must be told in a way that resonates with the local audience, using methods they are most likely to accept and find interesting.
Effective audience targeting through tiered communication
In 2013, inspired by the movie Avatar, Jin Bo visited Zhangjiajie in Hunan province and was deeply moved by the breathtaking landscape. He then decided to base himself in Chongqing and Zhangjiajie, working to promote the scenery to Koreans.
"I was the first to launch the 'Chongqing-Zhangjiajie-Chongqing' 5-day tour package in the South Korean market, and at its peak, we welcomed up to 40,000 tourists a year," said Jin.
Since last year, with the strong recovery of China's inbound tourism market, I have invested several hundred thousand yuan in advertising on Korean television and new media, and the market is steadily growing, Jin noted.
"This June, with the opening of the Chongqing-Changsha high-speed railway, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie will form a 'two-hour high-speed rail tourism circle,' which may bring even greater popularity." He expressed his confidence.
Jin, who serves as both the general manager of CCTE Co., Ltd. of South Korea and Chongqing Huanjing International Travel, is a veteran in the international tourism industry. In his view, marketing and promotion aim to influence specific audiences, spark their interest, and establish tiered communication channels, with effective communication routes being key.
The first is the division between traditional media and social media channels. Traditional media conveys information with greater authority and credibility, while social media offers more internet-based, digital, diverse, and interactive features.
The second is the distinction between mass media and professional channels. Mass media is suitable for reaching a broad audience, while promotional events and trade shows are more effective when conducted through professional channels within the tourism industry.
Leveraging ASEAN markets for tourism expansion
"An individual company's efforts can only impact a niche market. It is through collaboration across the entire industry chain, including travel agencies, industry associations, and relevant authorities, that a better inbound tourism market atmosphere can be created and overall travel intentions from source markets can be improved," said Xie.
"We will use strengthening inbound tourism from ASEAN countries as a breakthrough and fully promote the high-quality development of inbound tourism in our city," said a Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development representative.
Significant progress has been made in cultivating key source markets in ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. Going forward, the city will fully leverage the Lancang-Mekong Tourism Cities Cooperation Alliance platform, focusing on key source countries in the five Mekong countries, including European countries and the U.S., to establish the "Chongqing Meets Lancang-Mekong" cross-border travel brand, the representative added.
The city will also strengthen cooperation with Online Travel Agencies, large tourism-related business associations, and enterprises, improve the government-business collaboration mechanism, and promote market cooperation on a larger and more impactful scale. Furthermore, the city will continue implementing the "Hello! Chongqing" global promotion campaign, regularly holding a series of events to present Chongqing to the world, and continuously raising the international profile of Chongqing’s tourism, according to the representative.
(Dai Xuelin, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)
(Chongqing Daily contributed to this report.)