Social Media Marketing by Global DMO

More than 259 million Chinese booked their travel online in 2015, of which 80 percent did so on their mobile devices, according to China Internet Network Information Center. The demographics are changing, too. China's outbound travel boom is fueled mostly by a new generation of travelers. Besides, the shift of Chinese group travel to independent travel becomes increasingly obvious, which leads to the fact that Chinese modern travelers want more than what lies beneath the destinations’ surface.

In the light of these changes, global destination marketing promoters have prioritized their online presence. Hence, websites, social media and apps have become prime channels to deliver information.

Destination marketing is the practice of promoting a city, a region, or a country to attract more visitors. With the continued growth of travel on a global scale, it has forced destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to come up with new ways to attract visitors. According to a professional marketer of destination marketing in China, with the rise of the fan economy, WeChat, Weibo and the digital advertising, it has brought a new way of  destination marketing in China.

100 million Chinese tourists spent over $100 billion abroad last year. As China’s outbound tourism market shows no signs of slowing down, it becomes more important than ever for Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) to make sure they stand out to engage Chinese tourists, and in the case of modern Chinese tourists, trip planning starts from Chinese social media.

Here are some trends of US DMOs on Chinese social media platforms. Firstly, though America is one of the key destinations for Chinese tourists, and almost every state or major city was mentioned, only about 20 of them have created official accounts. Secondly, only around 20 DMOs had a presence on Weibo, mostly coastal cities. Thirdly, among these destinations, engagement was quite varied. Follower number ranged from under 100 to over a million. Fourthly, California has the most amount of DMOs active on Chinese social media. A large number of followers doesn’t mean a high engagement. Though Tourism LA has the largest number of followers (1.5m+), GoUSA, with only half the number, has almost an average monthly engagement of 9x.