There are often distinct differences for almost everything between China and the rest of Asia and Oceania and there’s no exception for luxury travel industry. Here are some insights Brand Karma study revealed.

Luxury travellers from China place higher value on helpfulness and efficiency of service while the other APAC travellers prioritise breakfasts and peacefulness in their travel reviews, according to research from Brand Karma.

The Chinese prefer to post on Ctrip and Weibo while the others use TripAdvisor and Facebook most.

Google+ has 100 million users in China, Twitter has 80 million, and YouTube has 60 million. LinkedIn has over 20 million users according to Business Insider. China does not have a strong Facebook presence and the luxury hotels participate in Weibo.

Top Hotel Review Sites

In 2013, 88% of all traveler reviews were posted on OTA sites. The category’s share of reviews peaked at 91% in Q1 2013.

China sees only 16.8% of luxury reviews posted on TripAdvisor compared with 48% in the rest of Asia Pacific. And Chinese booking and review websites such as Ctrip, Qunar, Dao Dao, and Dian Ping
continue to gain shares of luxury hotel reviews globally.

In China, Ctrip receives most positive reviews (71%) and Dao Dao with least positive reviews (19%).

Chinese travelers are increasingly posting reviews via their phones, and average review length (number of words) is declining.

The Guest Experience

Chinese families strongly appreciate when hotels offer a luxury experience that includes great childcare. Being friendly and staying up-to-date with all the hotel and surrounding location have to offer are important to delight guests.

As the largest population in the world, the Chinese are used to crowds, but they are disappointed when
hotels feel crowded, especially in swimming areas and at breakfast. Chinese guests are as connected as ever and expect to remain so while travelling. As such Internet access costs disappoint many luxury travellers who feel complimentary and fast Wi-Fi should be available.

In addition to business needs, they want to share their experiences and pictures with friends and family on Weibo.

Top Performing Luxury Hotels in China

• The Puli Hotel And Spa
• Golden Gulf Hotel Yantai
• Crowne Plaza Hotel Suzhou
• Sheraton Guangzhou Hotel
• Glenview ITC Plaza Chongqing
• Crowne Plaza Hotel Lijiang Ancient Town
• Le Meridien Chongqing Nan’an
• InterContinental Suzhou
• Intercontinental Tangshan
• Hyatt on the Bund, Shanghai

It’s important for marketers to understand the uniqueness of Chinese travelers, the preferred social networks and features of each.

One example is Wechat; it now offers payment solutions and we have seen airlines like Spring Airlines to utilize the feature to provide convenience and high conversions.

Source: Brand Karma

China Tourism Academy estimates total revenue generated from China’s travel industry is going to reach RMB 3.3 trillion (USD 530 billion) this year with 3.76 billion person trips.