Growing interest in the UK by Chinese tourists has encouraged Booking.com to enhance and adapt its service and to successfully apply to be recognised as a member of the VisitBritain ‘GREAT China Welcome’ Charter (GCW) campaign.
The GCW Charter campaign was launched in March 2014 by VisitBritain and is aimed at UK hospitality businesses who can offer exceptional assistance to Chinese tourists. According to VisitBritain, visitors from China have doubled in the last five years and tourism leaders hope these numbers will treble again by 2020.
The Charter now has over 170 members and is designed to help Chinese visitors easily identify hotels, attractions, retailers and tour operators that are making themselves ‘China-ready’ by providing information in Chinese and adapting their products for the market. Booking.com qualified for membership due to significant enhancements to its service for the Chinese market, including –
Website & Apps Localisation
- Localisation of Booking.com consumer access points by a dedicated Chinese language team (including desktop website, mobile website, tablet website, iPhone App, iPad App and Android App)
- Localisation of accommodation content into Chinese by a dedicated Chinese language team
- A dedicated Booking.com Weibo fan page – that includes options for sharing accommodations and the confirmation page, and daily Weibo content (including top destination introduction, hotel recommendation, and travel insights)
- A dedicated Booking.com Wechat corporate account – includes bi-weekly content updates (including travel inspirational stories, hotel/destination recommendations, and travel industry news)
- A dedicated team of Chinese researchers, developers and designers to support optimal user friendliness for Chinese customers
Customer service
- 24/7 customer service in the Chinese language
- 24/7 Weibo web care support in the Chinese language
- Customer service support on Wechat in the Chinese language
- Support to guarantee a booking with China Union Pay (for accommodations in mainland China)
Accommodations
- Access to over 500,000 accommodations worldwide, including 17,858 in the UK
- Top UK destinations for Chinese visitors include London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Oxford, York and Hillingdon (top five UK accommodations listed in notes to editor)
- A rapidly growing number of Chinese language reviews
50% increase in UK bookings by Chinese tourists in Q1 2014
Jason Grist, UK Area Manager, Booking.com commented:
“The GREAT China Welcome programme aims to make Britain a top destination for the rapidly-growing Chinese market and we are thrilled to be part of this respected charter. In line with industry trends, we have experienced a 50% increase in UK bookings by Chinese tourists in Q1 2014 compared to the same timeframe in 2013. In addition, we have seen the range of accommodations stayed in increase by almost a third. We believe this growth is just the beginning, and by enhancing our service for Chinese visitors it will help drive interest not only for us, but also for UK tourism.”
Jo Leslie, who manages the GREAT China Welcome programme for VisitBritain, said, “There is strong evidence that businesses who go the extra mile in catering for certain nationalities quickly reap the benefits. Booking.com is a great example of online accommodation booker which has been quick to recognise the massive potential of the Chinese market and invested accordingly. We’re delighted to be able to count them as one of our 170 members and hope that many more British tourism and hospitality businesses will follow their example.”
As part of the membership, Booking.com will receive the VisitBritain Charter mark that will be displayed on the website and all marketing materials.
For more information about the Charter click here
Proving your organisation is ‘China-ready’
Membership of the GREAT China Welcome Charter is completely free but is only open to organisations which can prove they are ‘China-ready’ by providing evidence of one or more of the following:
- A product or a service that is of genuine interest to potential Chinese visitors and meets their distinct cultural needs and expectations
- First-hand experience of welcoming Chinese visitors within the past two years
- Mandarin speaking staff
- Translated websites, apps or literature
- Visitor information or signage in Mandarin
- Visitor-facing staff who have undergone training about Chinese culture and etiquette
- Facilities for customers to pay using China UnionPay
- Some form of formal collaboration with a peer organisation in China
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