Tourism in China is becoming a significant part of the Chinese economy. Though there are huge needs and opportunities, the market is full of brands that are not very differentiated. Each year, many agencies shut down while new brands emerge. In this article, I am gonna illustrate a bit of brand and communication strategies of 3 key competitors in the market. Let’s explore how they develop their distinctive brand assets in this fierce market.
Qyer, the first step for planning your trip
Qyer is one of the most influential online travel platform in China that target to independent travelers. It is not only a sales website with numerous travel products but also a social and sharing platform with extremely high daily active users.
Credit：tech.huanqiu.com
Qyer had deep insight into customer needs. They found that most travelers don’t know how to plan their independent trip. In light of this, Qyer pioneered destination handbooks and saving money handbooks for independent travelers. They also developed Q&A BBS which enable its users to exchange the most updated travel information as well as tips. By doing this, Qyer is considered one of the most authoritative brands for travel.
Qyer set a good example of the linkage between consumer trust and brand value. With the trust of its users, the sales and operational performance of their online platforms achieve excellent results.
This makes Qyer stands out of all the other online travel agencies at the very beginning. Even afterward another China OTA Mafengwo developed destination handbooks as well, it is difficult to change consumer’s impression.
Zanadu – High-end media & travel platform
Zanadu, similar with Thomas Cook China, targets to the discerning consumers who are willing to pay more money on a personalized high-quality trip.
Credit: ZANADU Magazine
Even though Thomas Cook is “pioneer of modern travel and one of the most well-known tourism brands around the world”, in China, the brand awareness of Zanadu is obviously much better than Thomas Cook.
In order to stand out from numerous similar travel platforms, Zanadu developed a high-end lifestyle magazine generating high-quality content related to luxury hotels, F&B, travel, etc. As a result, Zanadu is considered as one of the most influential and popular high-end travel media titles in China. Being a media platform with good reputation offers them a good brand recognition as well as continuous brand exposures in the travel industry.
There are even more benefits. By leveraging their media status, Zanadu gains a varied collection of travel resources, including hotels, resorts, airlines, tourist spots, and other media titles. They integrate the resource and generate high-quality travel product with a relatively low cost, which means more profit margin.
Thomas Cook China – A new start in China
Even though Thomas Cook is a 178-year-old well-known travel brand worldwide, it entered China market until 2015. How to grab market share and build brand awareness is a challenge for them.
In the article “How Does Thomas Cook China Stand Out”, I have demonstrated that Thomas Cook China takes sports events as their Unique Selling Point. The competition in China market is extremely fierce, but going abroad for watching sports events is a niche market and Thomas Cook China seized the opportunity.
Credit: Thomas Cook Sport
In China, the common solution to increase brand awareness is to cooperate with KOL and celebrities, but Thomas Cook China came up with another way. To keep align with their strategy on sports events, TC China sponsored lots of football teams including Manchester United，Newcastle United and Chelsea FC in order to generate brand exposures among their target audience —— the loyal football fans. This also help the brand to build an emotional linkage with fans.
By signing an exclusive contract with top football teams such as Manchester United allows TC China to be the most authoritative choice for consumers. Moreover, Thomas Cook China leverages the good reputation of its mother brand of the UK and fully respect China market’s status at the same time.
However, comparing with other travel agencies, the exposure and brand awareness of Thomas Cook China is still relatively low and they need to put more effort into communication, such as cross over cooperation or celebrity endorsement, etc.
The competition in China travel market is not only between travel agencies but also between business models (offline stores VS online platforms). Only with the effective brand strategies can these travel agencies stand out from this saturated market.
Reference：
https://www.techsir.com/a/201703/39391.html
https://www.sohu.com/a/248244318_100383
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