Free Wi-fi, Chinese breakfasts, and kettles in their rooms: the simple pleasures of the Chinese traveller
Throw in mandarin-speaking staff and translated travel guides and everyone’s happy, new study shows
Free-spending Chinese travellers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, demanding more sightseeing and dining experiences, rather than just visits to fancy shopping malls, a survey by booking website Hotels.com has found.
But what they want the most from hotels are still traditional facilities, such as kettles and free access to the internet.
Hotels.com’s Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) was conducted in May, and polled 3,000 Chinese tourists aged 18 to 54, along with 3,800 hotels worldwide, to gauge tourists’ travel behaviour, booking methods, accommodation choices, and other aspects
The top three requests were being offered Chinese breakfast, having kettles in their rooms, and quick, free internet access. In-house mandarin speaking staff and translated travel guides were also high on their request lists.
“We found a big discrepancy between travellers’ expectations and what hoteliers thought they should be investing in,” said Nelson Allen, senior director of marketing at Hotels.com for APAC region.
The poll also showed venues should provide more Chinese payment methods, whereas hotels seemed to be putting major resources into developing their own Chinese social media accounts.