Three Tools to Capitalise on the China Tourism Opportunity

Tourism House of QualityThe “Tourism House of Quality” is a destination or market focused tool. It depicts the three key considerations that are required to build a strong competitive position in China. The first consideration captures the importance of building a good foundation through effective planning. This planning includes a consideration of the key political, environmental, social and technological factors that define the China market and differentiate it from other markets.

The second consideration builds on the intelligence gathered during the planning phase to establish the pillars upon which the go to market strategy will rest. Six key pillars for China include an understanding of the market, building capacity, improving access, tailoring products and experiences for Chinese consumers, building strategic relationships, and creating demand.

The final consideration is about implementation of the strategy. Successful implementation requires careful alignment of products and services with key target markets. This implementation needs to be phased over time, initially starting with adaptation of existing products and services to new markets. In the medium-term, as relationships mature, these target markets will be open to niche products and exclusive, higher yield services. In the long-term, these relationships will open opportunities for growth into new markets with existing and potentially new products and services.

Byron Keating & Anton Kriz (Uni. Newcastle)

Outbound Tourism Management SystemThe “Outbound Tourism Management System” is a firm focused tool that assists firms to understand and respond to the key considerations and processes that support travel planning and consumption by tourists. On the customer side, these processes explain the psychological stages that consumers move through as they initially respond to marketing activities, and then enact their travel aspirations and reflect on the tourism experience.

On the firm side, the system views outbound tourism as a supply chain that requires the management of product, coordination of supply, and the creation of demand. At the operational level, the firm is responsible for choosing which products and services to develop, which supplier relationship to nurture, and allocate resources to ensure that the service promise is fulfilled and that appropriate post-service activity is managed.

The system provides a useful checklist for firms new to export tourism. Each box in the model can be deconstructed in terms of particular markets, ensuring that firms consider the unique market characteristics and develop strategies to exploit. In the case of China, the outbound tourism management system provides a useful organising framework for gathering and actioning intelligence.

Travel Episode ModelThe “Travel Episode Model” reflects the need for new theory that better captures the complexity of travel planning and destination choice in China. Traditional models of destination choice, developed in a mature Western context, assume a uniform linear decision making process that begins with an information search, before a consideration of alternatives, and then selection amongst a limited set of offerings.

The unique political and regulatory environment in China introduces constraints that are likely to be reflected in very different travel episodes for Chinese travellers. In some cases, the choice of destination may precede the actual travel decision by many years due to visa restrictions, for others the choice of travel party can drive the timing of travel and limit the planning processes. It is also likely that tourists from different parts of China will have access to different resources, and will have different levels of travel experience.

By focusing on travel episodes, this approach also allows for the identification of customer segments based on different travel patterns. This in turn, would assist with the nature and timing of marketing activites, and is likely to be far more beneficial than traditional product based and geographic based segmentation approaches.

Tool 1: Market focused Tool 2: Firm focused Tool 3: Customer focused