The China Boot Camp on April 23rd will help companies understand how to reach and connect with “the new Chinese tourist” and affluent consumers, by leveraging the complex social media landscape in China.
Digital Innovation Asia (DIA) has partnered with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), as well as the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to increase relevance to the industry when it comes to digital innovation in travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region. Delegates of the PATA Annual Summit in Bangkok from April 25-27th, can take advantage of attending the China Boot Camp and Digital Aid Asia at a 40% discount.
Located alongside, the Digital Innovation Asia events are deliberately timed to lead into and support the PATA Summit at the end of April, and follow TTM+ in June, to stage digital events, which include the Digital Innovation Asia Awards, Digital Aid Asia, Blogger Match-Up Asia, Speak-Out Asia. Kicking off the series of events, the China Boot Camp on April 23rd at Pullman Hotel G Bangkok will help travel companies understand the Chinese travel market, and how to market to affluent Chinese consumers, followed by Digital Aid Asia Forum on April 24th at zuma Restaurant (at St Regis Hotel Bangkok).
China has become the world largest single source market for international tourism revenues – but how to market to the most valuable, high-yield affluent Chinese consumers?
The China Boot Camp on April 23rd will help companies understand how to reach and connect with “the new Chinese tourist” and affluent consumers, by leveraging the complex social media landscape in China. Delegates will be able to hear about the latest trends in marketing to Chinese consumers, and learn about the rapidly changing and evolving Digital and Social Media Landscape in China, including the latest start-ups. Taking a deep dive into the complex and unique digital and social media landscape in China, the April 23rd China Boot Camp will feature the unique opportunity to engage with three top Chinese bloggers, sponsored by Chinese travel social media website Tripshow.com. Interested travel companies can apply to be part of a Chinese mini blogger match-up the morning prior to the China Boot Camp.
Every participant will receive a hard-copy version of the latest Essential China Travel Trends Book, and a special offer for a one-year Basic membership from TripShow.com, valued at RMB 5,000 or USD 800 (Note: Sina Weibo account is required).
According to the latest data from the UNWTO from April 2013, Chinese nationals spent a record US$102 billion on overseas travel 2012, taking it to the top of the international standings and making it the first country ever to achieved nine-digit spending in US dollar terms. The result marks the culmination of a sharp rise in Chinese outbound travel over the past decade. International travel from China has become a major source of growth for providers in the destination countries. There will be an average of 25 million first-time Chinese travellers every year, or 70,000 every day, for the next 10 years. An increasing number of second and multiple times Chinese visitors are more likely to travel independently, and not part of a group, meaning that they have a greater choice of timing and destinations. They have the opportunity to explore ‘off-the-beaten-track’ venues and can look for holidays and activities that suit their personal interests.
Jens Thraenhart, Founder of Digital Innovation Asia (DIA) says: “The way many Chinese consumers are finding out about new destinations and travel services, as well as hotel or cruise brands is via the Internet. With over 564 million Internet users in China in April 2013 (an increase of 40 million new Internet Users in just the last year) which represents over 42% of their population and almost double the population of the US, more than 80% of Chinese travellers research and educate themselves about destinations and brands online. Chinese consumers are increasingly being influenced by digital and social media marketing, and any travel suppliers looking to enter the Chinese market need to lead with digital, mobile, and social media marketing.”
Sustainable Tourism 2.0 – digitally powering and taking responsible tourism development to the next level. First ever conference focusing on responsible tourism development and capacity building via technology, social media, and mobile.
On April 24th, the Digital Aid Asia Forum is the first ever conference focusing on helping emerging tourism regions across Asia to learn how to leverage technology and digital media for capacity building to develop tourism in a responsible way and drive poverty alleviation. Linked with the 2013 PATA Annual Summit (PAS) in Bangkok from April 25-26, Digital Innovation Asia (DIA) is organizing the first ever Digital Aid Asia Forum on April 24th at trendy zuma Restaurant at the St Regis Hotel in Bangkok. Emceed by media and global tourism personality Ms. Anita Mendiratta of CNN T.A.S.K Group, speakers including Google, Mekong Tourism, PATA, BeMyGuest.travel, WIT, DIA, Cambodia e-Visa, Future e-Learning Resources, and Backpacker Magazine Southeast Asia, will discuss the issues from crisis management, human trafficking, human resources development, capacity building from micro-financing and e-Visa, and how internet and emerging technologies, mobile, and social media can act as an enabler and catalyst to drive positive economic growth supporting the visitor economy.
Mr. Martin Craigs, CEO of PATA says: “We are naturally motivated to partner with Digital Innovation Asia. These events are a perfect primer for next gen minded mentors the day before our summit. Mobile, digital, and social media in Asia are “m-powering” the complete Visitor Economy, clearly a catalyst for balanced travel and tourism growth in the region. The China Boot Camp and Digital Aid Asia will be inspirational, thought provoking covering issues like crisis management, e-Visa, and human trafficking.”
Nominations for the Digital Innovation Asia Awards are being accepted from now until May 31st, and the DIA Awards Celebration will be on June 10th at famous Bed Supperclub in Bangkok. There is no charge for nominations, and it is open travel and tourism organizations, content creators, and agencies, as well as travelers. The Digital Innovation Asia Awards recognize the most forward thinking yet performance-oriented digital innovations in the Pacific Asia travel and tourism industry.
Categories include “Most Engaging Website”, “Most Viral Campaign”, “Most Creative Use of Technology”, “Most Inspiring?Content”, “Most Impactful Startup”, and “Most InnovativeDigital Organization”.
The DIA Awards are overseen by members of the new Digital Innovation Asia Council, an invite-only forum of the most senior e-commerce executives and digital marketing thought-leaders from hotels, airlines, and tourist boards from all corners of the Asia Pacific region. We encourage all travel and tourism organizations to submit their best digital work, and work they have admired over the past 15 months from January 2012 to April 2013. Please visit our DIA Awards partner TravelDailyNews.Asia to submit your nominations at https://goo.gl/rRVwS.
Digital Innovation Asia is endorsed and supported by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN), the Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), the Tourism Technology Association (TTA), the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the International Federation of IT in Travel and Tourism (IFITT), and the International Association of Travel and Tourism Professionals (SKAL).
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
