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26 Aug 2009
Shanghai
The Internet has become the most popular medium for Chinese travelers seeking information about their trips, according the latest Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor. The Nielsen survey found that travelers will search for conventional destination information ahead of their trips (61 percent of leisure trips taken), and then turn to online travel discussion forums (48 percent) to fine-tune their plans -- suggesting that opinions and comments about travel experiences posted to online forums are nearly as likely to influence travelers’ decisions as the destination websites themselves. Conventional travel agents were approached on only two in five (41%) travel occasions. (Chart 1)
The Nielsen survey also found that travelers were much more likely to recall seeing Internet advertising for travel destinations, compared to seeing travel advertising on other mediums. Close to 70 percent could recall seeing travel advertisements on the Internet, with only four in 10 recalling seeing a travel ad in a magazine or newspapers, at a travel agent, or on TV and radio.
The Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor also uncovered the media expenditure of the top 15 destinations for Chinese travelers, and spending by various destinations’ national and state tourism bodies. According to Nielsen, in 2008, the total destination media expenditure in China from the top 15 destinations (by visitor number) was close to US$68million. All the big spenders were in Asia Pacific, with South Korea the biggest spender on advertising Korean destinations and parts of the country, such as Jeju Island, in China, and accounting for 31 percent of share of voice. Singapore came a distant second with 22 percent of share of voice, followed by New Zealand with its “100% Pure New Zealand” marketing campaign (15% of share of voice), and Australia (with 11 percent of share of voice). (Chart 3)
Nielsen found that some destination tourism bodies advertised across all five major media formats to promote their destinations. For example, tourism bodies from South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia used all the major media styles in promoting their destinations to Chinese consumers. However, tourism bodies from European countries mainly promoted themselves in newspapers and magazines.
Nielsen estimates that only 1.55 percent of the total destination media expenditure was spent on Internet advertising. Moreover, there were a lot of countries that did not spend any money on Internet advertising. With the Internet the most widely used channel for information search, tourism boards at destinations would be well-advised to focus on advertising on the Internet. (Chart 4)
“Among the total destination media expenditure in China in 2008, Internet advertisements only accounted for 1.55 percent. However, the Internet was the most widely used channel for information searches and would be a highly effective media channel to reach Chinese travelers. Therefore, tourism relevant bodies shall explore ‘new’ media channels, such as the Internet, in addition to traditional media channels when promoting their destinations in China,” commented Dr. Grace Pan, Head of Travel and Leisure Research at Nielsen China.
In reviewing the findings from this most recent Travel Monitor, John Koldowski, PATA’s Director of the Association’s Strategic Intelligence Centre remarked that “In today’s tough business environment, every dollar, euro or RMB invested needs to have the best possible ROI outcome attached to it.
With these results showing that the largest proportion of China’s outbound travelers – both business and leisure - use the Internet as a pre-trip information tool, it makes sense that marketers should leverage that usage to increase the visibility of their own products and deals. The fact that the cost of doing so is minimal, relative to more traditional media formats, suggests that this is one way of achieving that much sought after balance - more consumer contact, with higher product recall, at a much lower unit cost.”
Chart 1
Chart 2
Chart 3
Chart 4
About the Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor
The Nielsen China Outbound Travel Monitor highlights Chinese leisure and business travelers' behaviour, attitudes and opinions of various destinations, and includes comprehensive topics such as decision making process, information sourcing, booking choices, accommodation and more. Using a combination of telephone and online interviews, the Outbound Travel Monitor covers Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and a further 23 cities in China. In addition, exclusive data on media expenditure by travel destinations, covering TV, magazines, newspapers and Internet in China and Share of voice (SOV) in different cities and regions in China are added in the 2009 report to help marketers develop effective marketing strategies to win Chinese consumers, and gain insights for tactical plans to communicate with target segments.
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com
About PATA
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is a membership association acting as a catalyst for the responsible development of the Asia Pacific travel and tourism industry. In partnership with private and public sector members PATA enhances the sustainable growth, value and quality of travel and tourism to, from and within the region.
PATA provides leadership and counsel on an individual and collective basis to nearly 100 government, state and city tourism bodies; international airlines, airports and cruise lines as well as many hundreds of travel industry companies across the Asia Pacific region and beyond. Thousands of travel professionals belong to nearly 40 PATA chapters worldwide and participate in a wide range of PATA and industry events. PATA’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC) offers unrivalled data and insights including Asia Pacific inbound and outbound statistics, analyses and forecasts as well as in-depth reports on strategic tourism markets.
PATA is a not-for-profit organisation. For more information, please visit www.pata.org.
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