Qatar has luxurious offerings and high level of service making it extremely well positioned to attract Chinese tourists.
This article is for Qatar Tourism Professionals
The tourism market in Qatar
Qatar praises itself to be one the best touristic destinations thanks to the best airline and the best airport in the world, but the country has a lot to offer. It has world-class museums, souks, natural landscapes, stunning urban architecture, Arabian culture and hospitality. Qatar wants to attract more Chinese tourists. Consequently, the Qatar Tourism Authority has openend representative offices in China, with headquarters in Beijing and supporting locations in Shanghai and Guangzhou. They will develop a marketing campaign to help raise awareness and knowledge about Qatar in China.
“Qatar has become an increasingly accessible destination for Chinese travelers, especially after the country waived entry visa requirements for Chinese citizens,” Qatar’s ambassador to China Sultan Salmeen al-Mansouri said.
The Qatar Tourism Authority will also make partnerships with tour operators and conduct media campaign and many others innovative activities in order to raise Qatar’s profile as a destination among Chinese tourists. Moreover, Chinese citizens can now enter Qatar visa-free, making the country the most open country in the region.
How to attract more Chinese tourists?
Chinese tourists have high expectations in international tourism by selecting their travel agency online. In China, 80% of booking reservations are realized online. Therefore, accessing Chinese consumers online is the best way to reach them and generate traffic to your website and have potential customers in contact with your company.
Increase your visibility with SEO on Baidu
SEO on Baidu is the key for the visibility of your business in China. Baidu is the most used search engine in China, it ranks 5th among the most visited sites in the world and currently has more than 800 million web pages. Baidu now offers a wide range of services, such as web searches, image search, music, forums or a Q&A service. SEO on Baidu requires several steps, which may be different from what needs to be done on Google. The notions of trust and notoriety remain essential for schools wishing to enter the Chinese market and be visible on Baidu. Key SEO strategies include keyword optimization, backlinks, and content sharing, this is the way to generate quality traffic. Compared with SEA, SEO takes more time, but it is long term solution in terms of developing a better e-reputation and is ultimately more stable. The quality search result won’t disappear after you stop the campaign, on the contrary, you will remain higher in the rankings and continue to drive traffic.
A Chinese website
A website in Chinese is necessary to enter a market and realize branding. This is an efficient solution to increase the popularity of your products, influence consumers with content and design, and develop the image of your company in the country. Moreover, having a website written in mandarin is essential. Chinese consumers spend more than 40% of their daily life on Internet and these internet users trust more Chinese websites than English websites.
Example : Qatar airways Website in Chinese
E-reputation and online public relations
Having a good reputation online is essential in China. Public Relations is one of the key points on which any digital marketing strategy should be based. More than attract Chinese travelers to your website, it is important to raise your company awareness and to make it more visible for Chinese by using online Public Relations. Chinese internet users spend more than 40% of their spare time on the internet, therefore, you should favor online public relations.
Video advertisement to Engage
The ratio of smartphone users in China has been increased tremendously. Last year, digital ad spending in China reached $40.42 bn, a 30% increase on the previous years’ spending. Ads spending in China is expected to reach over $80 bn by 2020. The numbers speak for themselves, this is a lucrative arena in terms of spend and return on investment. Chinese people like to watch videos on smartphones and you can develop unique ideas to spread your brand awareness campaigns through effective video messages. Advertising in China is however a very unique eco-system that requires a different approach, understanding and mind-set. When it comes to ad spending you have to understand not only the most popular platforms in terms of user number but also, and most importantly, the infrastructure each platform has for advertising services.
Chinese Social media to Communicate
China is the world largest connected country: more than 90% of Chinese people have an account on at least one Chinese social network. Wechat is the social media the most used in China and, regardless of the size of your company, it is an essential media to develop your marketing strategy in the country. By promoting your products on social media, you can build a community surround your company, reach your target, get feedback and create a friendlier company image. Sina Weibo, China’s largest SNS so far, has got a nearly 88% penetration rate among the nation’s excess 358 million users. It has also attracted over 130,000 companies including one-third top 500 enterprises in the world. They don’t just join Weibo on impulse, but for the benefit, Weibo can bring them. Some come to Weibo for brand awareness, some for brand image and others for closer relationship with customers.
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Read also:
Number of Chinese tourists visiting Qatar increase by 68% -it is huge increase and opportunies for Qatar SME. What are the best attraction in Qatar for Chinese Tourists?
Qatar and China: Developing a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership