• Organizing the trip

Chinese people are in high-tech society. Even people from older generation and from small villages have smartphones and large experience with online shopping and booking. They prefer to plan and book their trips online. They don’t use standard western platforms. It would be a good idea if the hotel website has information in Chinese and advertisement in Chinese platforms and social medias such as E-long, WeChat, TikTok etc. Chinese people can’t use common European connecting methods such as Messenger, Viber or WhatsApp. It’s a good idea to have WeChat profile to communicate with Chinese clients.

• Eating & drinking
• Food is an important part of the Chinese travel experience. “Global Independent Traveler Report for 2017 revealed that […] spending on food rose 14% year on year […] Chinese diners are actually quite adventurous – one tour operator we interviewed even listed “tasting guinea pigs” alongside exploring the Amazon as a popular activity for Chinese visiting Peru!” (Parulis-Cook 2018)
• Food is a good theme for destination marketing to Chinese tourists. “In Q1 of 2018, food-centered posts helped the Japanese National Tourism Board to get the no. 1 ranking among national tourism boards. Other leading accounts, Air Asia, New Zealand and Thailand, got high view rates for posts about local cuisine and restaurants as well. Dining recommendations are a regular theme for Hong Kong, which almost always tops the rankings chart for DMOs.” (Parulis-Cook 2018)
• Chinese tourists prefer hot meal even for breakfast. They are curious about European breakfast but mostly just to try. They will appreciate the opportunity to have hot meal as an option.
• The new generation tourists are familiar with Western culture and will follow Western etiquette. But still, dining etiquette is quite informal in China. Slurping, burping, and elbows on the table are common occurrences, and are not considered impolite. The hospitality staff must be aware that they can witness such behaviours.
• It’s a stereotype that Chinese people never eat dairy. The truth is somewhere in the middle. “While many older Chinese, as well as those from lower-tier cities, might be unfamiliar with cheese, and China does have a higher proportion of lactose intolerance than in European populations, others have grown up eating pizza, drinking lattes and indulging in ice cream. Moreover, the past several years have seen a yogurt craze in China. It’s worth checking with your guests about their dairy preferences, but don’t assume they’ll be disgusted by fondue or insist on soy milk.” (Parulis-Cook 2018). There is a high possibility that Chinese tourists will like sweet yogurt and worldwide popular kinds of cheese like parmigiana or cheddar, but will not be fancy of local products with strong flavour (such as goat milk or cheese, Bulgarian-style cheese and yogurt, Greek cheese etc.).
• Chinese like having hot dishes and used to have early dinner around 5-6pm.
• Language barriers affect dining preferences. “Group travelers are less likely to speak the local language of the country they are visiting, and this is one of the reasons they are more comfortable eating Chinese food. But even FITs who are adventurous eaters might have difficulty understanding a foreign language menu, especially with unfamiliar ingredients or dish names.” (Parulis-Cook 2018). It’s a good idea to have pictures of the food in the menu.
• Hot water is a very popular drink amongst Chinese people, even more popular than tea. They will expect to have free source of hot water in the facilities. They bring everywhere their own mugs and refill them with hot water.
• Chinese people will appreciate a meal with multiple courses.
• Chinese people like to share food. They may ask you for spare plates.
• Chinese people want to try local dishes but they will like most the local dish with similar to Chinese food ingredients and flavour.
• It’s a stereotype that Chinese people never drink spirits. There are two kind of Chinese tourists – one will not drink any alcohol while the other one will be glad to taste every local spirit drink. Be prepared that some Chinese like to drink but get drunk easily.
• The top 10 foods abroad [for 2017] are:

1. Seafood

2. Tom yum goong (Thailand)

3. Ramen (Japan)

4. Desserts

5. Bak kut teh (Singaporean pork rib tea)

6. Indonesian duck

7. Vietnamese rice noodles

8. Tropical fruits

9. Japanese grilled eel

10. French baguette (Parulis-Cook 2018)

• Social media and gadgets

The smart phone plays a very important role in Chinese people’s daily life. Since the smart phone is a “passport”, “wallet”, “planner”, “instrument for communication”, Chinese people cannot live without Internet. They will expect high speed free wifi everywhere in the facilities.

• Loud voice

Chinese tourists are considered loud.

The hospitality staff needs to be aware of that and prepared to handle it in a professional way – by politely but firmly and patiently explaining the rules in detail. Chinese people have their own variant of the proverb “When in Rome do as the Romans do”, so they will strictly follow the rules if you explain.

• 3 things that Chinese tourist will ask for:
• Hot water
• Slippers
• Cloth hanger
• It’s also worth mentioning that talking about politics in a formal context is a taboo amongst Chinese people. It is recommended that hospitality staff avoids conversations and references to such topics in order to not cause conflict situations.