Hi all,
I now have Chinese speaking staff so in a great position to host Chinese tourists… I was wondering about any suggestions for marketing to the China market…in both AirBnb and any other maybe China based platform?
Thanks
Put information in Chinese on your listings. Allow cooking. LOL.
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[quote=“K9KarmaCasa, post:2, topic:19726”]
Allow cooking. LOL.
[/quote] And very very lengthy showers with a lot of spillage!
Seriously, this is a great bonus for you. Chinese tourists are a huge market and will appreciate a welcoming place. I can’t help with any specific suggestions on marketing strategies I’m afraid, though. I don’t believe there are many Chinese members on here sadly. If so, please speak up!
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My twopence as someone who works in marketing and comms.
Define what you mean by the ‘Chinese’ market?
Do you mean people from mainland China? Do you mean countries where one of the main Chinese languages ie Mandarin or Cantonese are spoken?
Do your market research find out which Chinese languages your staff speak and which countries speak these languages. So in Hong Kong they speak Cantonese.
In order to market your service, start by having a clear idea of the sort of people your property is suitable for young families? groups? professional couples? business people?
What facilities are you going to have at your property that will make it attractive to your target market? Ask your staff.
Have your visitor guide and key notices translated. (You can pay a staff member to do this for you, once you have drafted the content as a freelance project). Make sure your listing is available in Cantonese and Mandarin. Have a rice cooker, slippers and other home comforts that will make your place an attractive option for this market. In your photos shown signs in Mandarin and Cantonese.
Once you have done your research and understand what countries you want to market to, you can develop a marketing plan.
You could develop a website/FB in Mandarin and Cantonese. You can pay for PPC advertising targeting the demographic that you want to reach through FB and online.
You could advertise on tourism website and magazines in the countries you want to target and link to drive traffic to your listing/website.
You could invite prominent Chinese/Malay/Hong Kong/Indonesia travel bloggers read by your target market to stay for a for a few days in exchange for a review.
There are many options, it all depends on your budget. If you have a high end property you will be able to invest more than if you have a budget offer.
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Hi Helsi
Thank you, amazing info. My target market is mainland chinese and my staff speak Mandarin. Mainland China is now the number one source of tourism for my area (Bali).
Yes, we’re busy drafting all our villa and location material into Chinese.
Your other suggestions are wonderful and I’ll be looking into all of them.
Just wondering if an AirBnB listing can be updated so it specifically matches a search for Chinese language friendly listings, if there is such a thing, or some other way to come up on top of search results by mainland Chinese looking at AirBnb (I know the global Airbnb rather than the Chinese AirBnb can only be accessed via VPN but most middle class Chinese already routinely do that).
Thanks again!
Yes. If you list Mandarin and/or Simplified Chinese as one of the languages spoken at your listing, one of the filters is by language.
Around here, many Chinese hosts have Kanji lettering in their listing title to ensure that Chinese potential guests can see them identified clearly.
On the FILTER Search page:
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Happy to help. Where is your property in Bali? it looks an amazing place. You are so lucky to live there.
Hi Drew,
did you have any positive results attracting Chinese hosts ?
The biggest China based platorm equivalent to Airbnb would be tuija.com (途家 tujia）followed by xiaozhu.com (小猪 xiaozhu),maybe you can give it a try.
They are only in Chinese language but i suppose your Chinese speaking staff could help you with it.
If you want to check existing listings you can search ‘‘巴厘岛’’ in tujia or go direclty balidao.xiaozhu.com/ for xiaozhu.
Jon
Chinese guests: (generally speaking)
Often like to cook their own food rather than eat local. So, have a rice cooker, wok and cooking oil available… Make sure you have a good extractor fan.
Like to drink hot water. Have an electric kettle.
Like to wear slippers as opposed to street shoes indoors. Have disposable slippers available.
Like to to take selfies in front of things. Have a place or places in your listing that would be interesting background for selfies.
Like WeChat. Figure out how to market your property on this platform. It’s kind of like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all combined.
Often travel with multiple generations. 2 parents, their child and grandparents. So, keep that in mind.
Google the story about the Tasmanian lavender bears. They were teddy bears stuffed with lavender from a local farm. Chinese people lost their minds trying to go there and buy them. They seem to be very susceptible to these kind of fads.
EDIT: thought of a couple more-
They think everywhere outside of China is potentially dangerous. So, whatever you can do to make your property feel secure…solid locks, a safe, stuff like that
Make sure you have good curtains and blinds. I’ve noticed that many Chinese like to close them and feel cozy inside, rather than have big exposed windows uncovered to the world outside. It’s kind of like the opposite of claustrophobia.
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That is quite good observations…and they are pretty superstitious.
One time I had to cover big mirror below a bed (extra bed) with blanket. Reluctantly I did.
Drew, you should be able to get info from your employee on how to market to Mainland Chinese people.
Is she/he only able to speak Mandarin but Chinese Indonesian?
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My host photo is in front of a major Chinese landmark from a family trip a few years ago. That catches their eye up front as well. My guests really appreciate the trinkets we bought there that I’ve used as decorations and Chinese language books.
Sometimes they like to hand wash clothing too, so a plastic wash basin might be a good thing to have on hand.
‘‘I’ve noticed that many Chinese like to close them and feel cozy inside, rather than have big exposed windows uncovered to the world outside. It’s kind of like the opposite of claustrophobia.’’
It is true. Interestingly enough, many also like to keep the entry door, and sometimes windows, wide open.
Lets in fresh air and good luck is supposed to come in the front door I think. But no windows can be right across from the front door or else it all escapes through there! According to my boyfriend’s mom at least. And any staircases with a window directly in front must have a mirror to scare away evil spirits.
Hi, this is very interesting. I’m a homestay host and I get a lot of Chinese guests from mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and I love them. Mostly young women with ENORMOUS suitcases (lol!) and desperate to cuddle my cat. I assume they pick me because of previous positive reviews in Chinese. And because they can cook in my kitchen…! I’ve had a look at the site but can’t navigate outside the ‘domestic’ option.
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Do you mean you couldn’t access international listings ? If so you can click on the small map icon on the left of the search bar, then on the third tab (境外 。港澳台). It will open a list of worlwide cities by alphabetical order. Only in Chinese language though 
In which city are you located ?
Yes. Till today i’ve not been able to understand they (female chinese guests as the post refers to) like to travel with enormous suitcases. To me, I’ll hate to bring a heavy suitcase around on a holiday. All sorts of logistics problems. As a host, my wood flooring has only been through a few guests and its already suffered a few chips. What do they hold in those suitcases! Bricks???
Yes, massive amounts of luggage. They only stayed for 3 days, but I assume they were doing a 3 month world tour. “the world’s a nice place, but I wouldn’t want to stay there”
Shopping is one of the most important tasks of their tour.
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ah, so they’re start off half empty, and rapidly fill!