A brand new report from EyeforTravel outlines everything you need to know about the impact of social media on online travel in China

In China, virtually every Internet user in China is connected to a social network. And in 2015, the latest count of Internet users stood at 668 million, close to 50% of the population, according he official China Internet Network Information Centre.

The country is also distinctly mobile. According to Nielsen, smartphone penetration in urban areas in China already exceeds 90%.

What is clear then is that social media cannot be ignored, and a new report from EyeforTravel – Chinese Social Media Landscape 2016 – takes a detailed look at all the main players and the impact they have in the online travel space.

While government restrictions and language barriers have limited the reach of Facebook and Twitter, it has not stopped local equivalents like WeChat, QQ and Weibo from making a uniquely Chinese social mark.  

Cultural differences and e-commerce are two key differentiators from Western style social.

“From a cultural perspective, the Chinese are more pragmatic about how they look at things and this trickles down to social media,” says Andrea Fenn, a digital expert based in Shanghai, who authored this report and will be moderating The Smart Traveller – Digital Strategies Asia in Hong Kong (Jan 26-27).

According to Fenn, mistrust in official sources has led citizens turning to, and being more inclined to trust, social media for information. The result is that today it is very much used as a commercial channel for corporate brand promotion, and users are comfortable receiving offers.

Standout numbers:

• 557 million mobile internet users
• 600 million - the number of users on WeChat
• 70% - WeChat’s share of the total Internet population
• 212 m – users on microblogging site Weibo
• 43.8% like to share opinion online

But it is also used common for experts in their field, from political leaders to entrepreneurs, journalists and so on to create their own unique brand on social, and garner thousands, if not millions of followers. 

Another major difference is that social platforms have tried to integrate as many functions as possible. TenCent’s WeChat, which has 600million active users, has done this particularly successfully by allowing users to chat with friends, book a flight or a taxi or pay utility bills. Even Lucky Money, a real-world red envelope tradition, once the privilege of children only, has become a highly successful WeChat function.  

In China social media is a first port of call for travellers, says Fenn, and given its booking functionality, it’s an incredibly important channel for travel brands. But know that limited competition in China means that digital marketing costs remain high.

Numbers of monthly active users on travel-focused social platforms

• 60 million - Mafengwo
• 50 million - Qyer
• 30 million – Breadtrip
• 7 million – Baidu Travel

 Going forward, Fenn expects to see more consolidation within Chinese platforms and online travel agents. Ctrip recently acquired Qunar and consolidation will continue to be a key characteristic of the market. Weibo too is playing catch up and is working with Alibaba to integrate the ecommerce function; that is expected by year-end.

Opportunities for outside business certainly exist but Fenn says there is a strong degree of protectionism, helping to give local players the upper hand. For this reason its crucial to work with local partners. Everything has to be localised but not just from a language point of view – although the help of Mandarin speakers won’t go amiss.

Aside from language, “you need to have a local eye,” says Fenn. In other words, local content must be tailored to the audience.

For more Chinese social insights see Chinese Social Media Landscape 2016. To get ahead in Asia, join us in The Smart Traveller – Digital Strategies Asia Hong Kong (Jan 26-27) or later in the year for EyeforTravel’s Asia-Pacific Summit (June 15-16)