China Market Strategy


We are providing Interactive Marketing and Social Media strategies and advisory services to travel and tourism organizations, including intermediaries, hotels, and DMOs that wish to target the fast growing and lucrative Chinese leisure travel market. Please visit Dragon Trail for more information. We have also launched a resource portal that gives information about the online travel marketing in China at ChinaTravelTrends.com.

In January 2009, CNNIC, China’s Internet Governing Body, released the 23rd China Internet Development Statistics Report. Let’s take a look at the numbers.

1. 298 million is the number of Internet Users (up 41.3% from last year)
2. 162 million people blog
3. 118 million people surfs the net using mobile

The Internet penetration in China is 22.6%, higher than the world average of 21.9%. The growth rate of rural Internet users was 60.8%, much higher than that of urban users which was 35.6%. China is now way ahead of the United States in terms of the number of Internet users. The United States has an estimated 223.1 million internet users, with a penetration of 71%. However, the financial size of China’s online market is still smaller than that of the United States.

An interesting fact noted in AdAge China was that China has 243 million broadband consumers. More interestingly, 92% (224 million) aged 13 and above , contributed to social media. This compared to 105 million Americans, or 76% of that country’s broadband population. Forty-three percent of Chinese broadband users (105 million people) communicate via forums/discussion boards, and 41 million Chinese are “heavy” social media contributors, meaning they participate in six or more activities and connect with at least 84 people on a “one to many” basis in a typical week.

We can help you strategize how to leverage this online community, and create campaigns and tools to execute.

Our services include:

  • Create Strategy to connect with Chinese Consumers by leveraging Digital Marketing and Social Media.
  • Develop and Maintain an engaging Online Presence in China, including translation, web copy writing, content syndication, web development, social network sites, travel planning tools, and blog management.
  • Plan, Develop, Execute, and Measure Digital Marketing and Social Media Campaign, including consumer market research, technical development, business development, content creation, content syndication, identifying metrics, and measurement of success
  • Leverage innovative brand insight tool in order to gather consumer voices in social networks towards a brand, product, or service within a certain market, including travel intentions, with the benefit to optimize campaigns and listen to the community.
  • Leverage innovative travel technology planning and consumer engagement tools.
  • Event Planning and Management, from design to execution.  Relationships with Chinese celebrities, including actors and influencers, as well as access to unique venues and innovative concepts.


An interesting Trivia piece about the beginning of the Internet in China:

In September 1987, with the support from a scientific research group led by Professor Werner Zorn of Karlsruhe University in Germany, a working group led by Professor Wang Yunfeng and Doctor Li Chengjiong built up an Email node in ICA, and successfully sent out an Email to Germany on Sep 20th. The Email title was “Across the Great Wall we can reach every corner in the world.”