Articles tagged “wechat”

Traditional websites are becoming a thing of the past in China as mobile, social, and peer-to-peer networks dominate the country’s digital ecosystem. Destinations looking to reach Chinese outbound travelers throughout the customer journey should take note.

The phrase "cash is king" is fast becoming outdated as Chinese travelers popularize mobile payment methods like Alipay and Weixin Pay.

China’s number one super app, WeChat, has helped its parent company, Tencent, become the most valuable social network company in the world. With this upward momentum, the app shows great potential for travel brands looking to enter the China market, as long as they formulate a thoughtful strategy going in.

This week in digital news we examined two very different things that many travel companies don't understand: WeChat and blockchain. WeChat is already important for travel companies that want to engage with Chinese travelers; blockchain may become so.

WeChat may be key for travel brands and destinations looking to appeal to Chinese outbound travelers. However, brands need to go beyond simply copying and pasting content from western social media to see the kind of payoff they are hoping for.

Ctrip – with the help of some useful allies – continues to dominate China's fast-expanding travel industry. It will be interesting to see whether 2018 brings further expansion into Europe and North America.

Many tourism boards now have entire teams dedicated to China and WeChat. It's a very complex task for foreigners to get the content right, but it appears as though WeChat parent Tencent is trying to make the platform more accessible for tourism boards.

KLM is a little less reliant on Chinese customers than other major airlines, but it's good to see the Dutch carrier taking the chance on a new way of accepting payments. We're betting it'll work out well for KLM. And we suspect other airlines will follow.

Most Western travel brands are still in their infancy when it comes to understanding China's digital platforms and marketing norms.

To benefit from the massive wave of travelers out of China, brands must work harder to help guests navigate language, cultural and payment barriers — mobile tools are a great first step.