Broadway Says 你好 (Hello) to China
12/14/17
Everyone who works with the travel and tourism industries on behalf of Broadway knows that China is an incredibly powerful force in outbound travel.
Now the world’s largest outbound travel market, China has exceeded 100 million outbound travellers each year for the past three years. And although 2016’s figure of 122 million travellers sounds like a huge number of people, it represents only about 9% of the entire Chinese population.
The U.S. Department of Commerce recorded 2.97 million Chinese arrivals into the United States in 2016, which constitutes about 2.43% of all Chinese outbound trips. By 2021, that number is expected to increase to 5.72 million. The U.S. is currently the fourth most popular country to visit from China, and NYC is the eighth most popular city to visit.
That means there’s significant potential for further growth—and we need to act. To take advantage of these opportunities, Broadway Inbound engages with Beijing-based Contineo Marketing to represent and promote the nearly 30 shows and performing arts organizations in its Broadway Collection marketing program.
Contineo works directly with travel professionals and tour operators to make sure that Broadway is an integral part of their customers’ itineraries, and they educate buyers to book shows in advance of travel—an important part of ensuring a smooth visit to New York. In addition, Contineo activates the influential Chinese travel press, both B2B and direct to consumer, to keep Broadway top-of-mind among prospective visitors to the U.S.
In spite of all this potential, there are still many challenges in getting Chinese outbound travellers to consider Broadway: different travel priorities, the use of China-centric social platforms, the use of “cashless” mobile payment platforms, and more. We’ll delve into some of the major challenges, learn more about the preferences of Chinese visitors, and discuss what else Broadway can do in an upcoming issue.
For more information on Broadway Inbound, visit www.BroadwayInbound.com.
Now the world’s largest outbound travel market, China has exceeded 100 million outbound travellers each year for the past three years. And although 2016’s figure of 122 million travellers sounds like a huge number of people, it represents only about 9% of the entire Chinese population.
The U.S. Department of Commerce recorded 2.97 million Chinese arrivals into the United States in 2016, which constitutes about 2.43% of all Chinese outbound trips. By 2021, that number is expected to increase to 5.72 million. The U.S. is currently the fourth most popular country to visit from China, and NYC is the eighth most popular city to visit.
That means there’s significant potential for further growth—and we need to act. To take advantage of these opportunities, Broadway Inbound engages with Beijing-based Contineo Marketing to represent and promote the nearly 30 shows and performing arts organizations in its Broadway Collection marketing program.
Contineo works directly with travel professionals and tour operators to make sure that Broadway is an integral part of their customers’ itineraries, and they educate buyers to book shows in advance of travel—an important part of ensuring a smooth visit to New York. In addition, Contineo activates the influential Chinese travel press, both B2B and direct to consumer, to keep Broadway top-of-mind among prospective visitors to the U.S.
In spite of all this potential, there are still many challenges in getting Chinese outbound travellers to consider Broadway: different travel priorities, the use of China-centric social platforms, the use of “cashless” mobile payment platforms, and more. We’ll delve into some of the major challenges, learn more about the preferences of Chinese visitors, and discuss what else Broadway can do in an upcoming issue.
For more information on Broadway Inbound, visit www.BroadwayInbound.com.
Originally published in Broadway Briefing.