PhoCusWright's recently completed landmark study, The Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in China, outlines the growing importance of opinions and social networking platforms during the planning phase of travel.
As a relatively new behavior, it is significant that 20% of the respondents looked for online travel reviews. Among Chinese online travel shoppers, the importance was even higher as consumers are primed for online travel adoption and the
emergence of blended travel business models.
Despite the popularity of social networking in China, the social networking market is dominated by local Chinese players. Western networks are having trouble adapting to the Chinese culture and user expectations.
Facebook does not rank among the top 15 social networks in China; MySpace has only 6 million users (vs. the goal of 50 million users after 2 years initially proclaimed by Rupert Murdoch). China's leading social network Qzone, which is targeted at teenagers with 376 million registered users, may be the largest in the world.
Details of Chinese travelers' response to social platforms and more from The Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in China will be revealed at the China Travel Innovation Summit.
The leaders of the Chinese travel industry and social media companies such as Baidu, Ctrip, eLong, 56.com, Yiqilai.com, Lufthansa, and more will share how they develop their social media strategies to protect their brand and corporate identities online, and provide best practices that lead to success:
- Baidu's innovative solutions tailed for Chinese social media marketing
- Lufthansa's partnership with Xiaonei.com
- eLong's integration of social networking sites such as Lohoo.com.
