Travel In China: Dusit International Taps Fast-Growing Chinese Travel Market in Thailand

The growth in the numbers of Chinese travelers to Thailand is nothing short of staggering: between January and June of 2012, some 1,124,234 Chinese people visited Thailand, an amazing increase of 28% over the same period in 2011. Indeed, more Chinese visit Thailand than any other nationality. And this trend seems likely to continue: the Chinese outbound tourism market is currently increasing at a rate of 9% per year and most analysts believe that China will become the world's biggest outbound tourism market in the near future.

Few players in the Thai tourism market have capitalized on the growth in Chinese tourists as effectively or as elegantly as Dusit International, the Bangkok-based hotel company, which operates 14 resorts and hotels in Thailand (as well as properties in four other countries).

"Dusit International has noted the constantly growing trend of outbound Chinese travellers to key destinations around the world, including our international hotels and resorts, with an 85% increase in Chinese travellers during January-June 2012 compared to the same period last year," says Mr. James Ramage, Dusit International's Assistant Vice President. In their Thailand properties, the number of Chinese guests actually tripled during this period.

How has Dusit International achieved these incredible results? First and foremost, Dusit International understands the importance of the Chinese tourism market and seeks to build relationships with Chinese travel operators and individual travelers. A big step in this direction was the opening of sales and marketing offices in both Hong Kong and Shanghai, as well as employing a Chinese director of sales in their Bangkok head office.

"In Asian markets, relationships are so important. You can't just send out a press release and expect results," says Ms. Yingrekha Langulasena, Director of New Media and Communications for Dusit International. "In China, it's very important to speak the language and to build a long-term relationship." One way that Dusit communicates with potential guests and Chinese travel professionals is through its Chinese-language website, something which is indispensable for any business with serious ambitions of tapping into the Chinese market.

But, as with any hotel chain, sales and marketing are meaningless unless the guest experience is positive, and here is where Dusit International has invested some of its biggest efforts. Ms. Langulasena says, "In each of our properties, we try to get a native speaker to help take care of Chinese guests and this is very reassuring to them, knowing they can get service in their own language." Her colleague, Ms. Warangkana Puangsiri continues, "If a Chinese traveller is looking at two resorts and they see that one of them has Chinese-speaking staff, they are most likely going to choose that resort."

Ms. Puangsiri stresses that, like any other nationality, Chinese guests are eager to experience Thai culture, but also appreciate some of the comforts of home. "They definitely want to try famous Thai dishes at our Benjarong Restaurant, but we also make sure they find some dishes they are familiar with at our breakfast buffet." Other things that Dusit does to make Chinese travelers comfortable include offering CCTV 4 (China Central international channel TV), operating Chinese restaurants at most of their major properties, providing Chinese newspapers, and offering Chinese tea options in their mini-bars.

These efforts have paid off handsomely for Dusit International and Mr. Ramage has high hopes for the future. He concludes, "Dusit International will expect even more from its properties in years to come. Success will be driven by the strength of our two regional sales representatives in Shanghai and Hong Kong covering leisure, MICE and corporate business. At the same time we are always looking for opportunities to add favored elements tailored for Chinese guests to better serve them at our hotels."

by Christian Rowthorn, China Travel Trends Correspondent Bangkok