Chinese travellers have drawn-out their lead as the largest spenders globally, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
“With a 12 percent increase in spending, China continued to lead international outbound tourism” in 2016, according to a UNWTO recent press release.
Chinese tourists spent US$261 billion on International tourism. The number of outbound Chinese travelers increased by 6 percent to 135 million in 2016. This remarkable growth positioned China as the number one tourist source market in the world since 2012.
The growth in International travel from China in 2016 profited many destinations in Asia and the Pacific, most notably Japan, South Korea and Thailand, and also long-haul destinations such as the United States and several countries in Europe, according to UNWTO officials.
Are Chinese travellers new target customers for Foreign Casino?
During international travel, among other interests of Chinese travellers, gambling was noted to get considerable attention. Numerous Asian countries, like the Philippines, South Korea and Russia are currently developing casino resorts after noticing the increased interest of Chinese in gambling in Macau and Las Vegas. Some analysts have predicted that they are trying to endeavor the same sort of appeal that Las Vegas and Macau have for Chinese tourists as must-visit gambling and entertainment destinations.
According to the Chinese International Travel Monitor 2016, Chinese travellers spent their money on casinos and gaming followed by shopping, dining, and sightseeing. To have Casinos and gaming were also listed among important hotel facilities for Chinese travellers.
Although gambling has been illegal in China it is still very common on the internet and behind closed doors. The interest in Chinese gambling during foreign travel is slowly appearing now as previously Chinese travellers didn’t show much interest in gambling since it was not considered as the right thing to do in China. Hence they were less inclined to indicate participating in such activities as part of their visit. Now with increased exposure and no a legal facility at home, Chinese travels want to indulge in gambling as their guilty pleasure.
Read also: Marketing to Chinese tourists travelers
How Foreign Casinos can attract Chinese tourists?
Foreign Casinos can proactively attract Chinese tourists by reaching them through Chinese social media platforms. Foreign casinos can partner with local Digital Marketing Agency and connect with Chinese netizens. There are more than 730 million active social media users in China. Many of these users were born during the 1980s and 1990s and live in the big cities of China. The overall digital ecosystem of Chinese social media is relatively disjointed and needs to be customized according to customer preference. Although, there are major social media platforms like Weibo, WeChat, Baidu and Taobao that have the largest volume of users. Consequently, various digital marketing techniques apply in each platform to attract the right target group.
Following are a few which can be incorporated to reach potential Chinese travellers.
Chinese Website Development to attract Chinese gamblers:
To gain visibility among highly demanding Chinese netizens, the development of a Chinese website is the first step taken to increase brand awareness. The prospective casino and gambling companies are advised to create interactive websites keeping the preferences of the Chinese audience in mind with respect to Chinese typography, the layout of the website, and user-friendliness.
SEO in China
The website needs to be optimized in search Chinese engines, in China, the website must be optimized to appear in Baidu search results. This way users find the website easily according to their search needs. Secondly, to rise above the competition the website needs to rank high in organic search result. This exercise takes skilled effort and experience.
Baidu PPC and PAID AD LINKS/BANNERS
SEO and Baidu PPC are two very proficient methods for companies that are interested in developing their business in China. Prospective companies need to open a Baidu PPC (Per per Click) account and incorporate SEO efforts. To improve customer experience the company is expected to optimize its landing page, which is informative and caters to the local public visiting the website.