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China has 1.3 billion in population so getting just some direct bookings from China should be a piece of cake. Based on Infographics, each of the 35 Chinese cities have a GDP that is equivalent to an entire country. Stuff ‘Made in China’ is everywhere. So marketing or getting direct bookings from China must be very cheap in China. According to China Channel, it will take around 20K Euro marketing budget commitment to open China Visible Official Account. ‘China Visible’ is key here as some companies may offer you an overseas WeChat account which cost basically nothing but that account will not be visible in China hence not helping at all to break in the China market. My hotel is selling at rate parity across all platforms so bookings should come direct as opposed to OTAs. Based on EyeForTravel’s new Chinese Travel Consumer Report 2017 – 2018, there is a marked contrast between Chinese and Western markets as more than 70% of Chinese digital bookings are made through OTAs. Ctrip has opened thousands of offline franchise stores across 23 provinces and municipalities in China to provide 24/7 customer service in any forms Chinese like, at the lowest possible price it can find anywhere. Hence, just providing even a parity rate on your website does not help to change Chinese booking habits to book via OTAs versus direct. Read Original Article |
