Tourism Australia rolls out new Chinese consumer website Australia.cn

2013-08-12— /travelprnews.com/ — Tourism Australia today launched a new Chinese consumer website Australia.cn, the first consumer website the National Tourism Agency has developed exclusively for an overseas market.

The website has been designed to cater for the way Chinese consumers view the internet, with content specifically tailored to highlight Chinese consumers’ most preferred Australian travel experiences, as well as full integration with China’s most popular social media platforms.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said the launch of Australia.cn is a significant strategic step in marketing Australia to Chinese consumers, the fastest growing and most valuable inbound tourism market.

“This is the first time Tourism Australia has developed and hosted a consumer website in any overseas market and it is an essential step in Australia staying ahead of the competition in China, a market estimated to be worth over A$9 billion to Australian tourism by 2020,” Mr McEvoy said.

Mr McEvoy said research on Chinese travellers’ behaviour had influenced the development of Australia.cn to entice Chinese consumers to choose Australia as their next holiday destination.

“Research has shown that Chinese travellers are interested in an Australian holiday for its food and wine, city lifestyle, natural wonders and beautiful coastal areas – and we have tailored the content on the website to inspire Chinese consumers to help turn their holiday aspirations into reality.

“By integrating Chinese social media platforms Sina Weibo, QQ Weibo and Kaixin, we are allowing Chinese users to not only plan their dream Australian holiday but also share their experiences of Australia with friends and family back home in China,” Mr McEvoy said.

The new website includes a dedicated section where well known Chinese celebrities, bloggers and advocates share their own personal experience of Australia, as well as a travel planning tool allowing users to organise their travel planning ideas and flight and visa information.

Direct links to the Chinese translation of the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse hosted within China have also been integrated, providing Chinese travellers with in-language tourism product information via search functionality, with search results giving preferential listing to T-Qual quality endorsed products.

As the official Chinese tourism website for Australia, the site also contains important information for travellers including consumer rights, health and safety, quarantine matters, visa facts, and self drive information.

China is Australia’s fastest growing inbound tourism market, with 685,000 Chinese visiting Australia in the year ending June 2013, an increase of 17.4 per cent on the previous year. The Tourism 2020 strategy anticipates the China market to be worth over A$9 billion by 2020.

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