Online market key arena in shopping fest

Hoteliers expanded cooperation with online platforms to attract travelers during the recent Double 11 shopping festival, which lasts roughly two weeks from late October.

It has been 10 years since hoteliers joined in the shopping gala, during which they presell hotel stays, coupons and more at bargain prices.

This year, Alibaba's travel arm Fliggy, one of the major platforms for the shopping festival, saw 14 brands' turnover hit 100 million yuan ($14.01 million). They include Marriott International, Wanda Hotels & Resorts and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

The market has become increasingly competitive, as consumers have grown more rational during shopping festivals and a growing number of e-commerce platforms and social network platforms participate in the festival, industry insiders said.

Some hotel operators offered higher discounts compared with previous years and removed many restrictions on coupon usage, which had provoked criticism from consumers before.

"We gave generous discounts for this year's Double 11 shopping festival, with the aim of attracting new customers, improving our brand awareness and also securing customers in advance of the Spring Festival holiday in February next year," said Zhou Quanhong, general manager of Sea View Garden Hotel in Qingdao, Shandong province.

Xu Wenlan, general manager of the marketing center at BTG Homeinns Hotels, said that in addition to slashing prices, they have tailored products to cater to niche markets including the elderly, families with kids, and Generation Z (those born after 1995 and into the 2000s).

Xu attributed part of their sales growth during the shopping festival to their first attempt at Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, one of the country's largest short video sharing platforms.

"Douyin is highly popular among the younger generation, which is our target audience. So this year, we have opted to work with famous hosts on the platform to enhance the appeal of our products," Xu said.

"However, it doesn't mean we disregard traditional online travel agencies. They are still our important and reliable channels," he said, adding that for hoteliers, these different platforms are complementary tools, all geared toward expanding market presence.

Xu's words were echoed by other hoteliers such as Jinjiang Hotels and Jinling Hotels & Resorts. "Booking hotels online has become a prevalent consumer behavior today. The key is to cover more online platforms and utilize their advantages," said Li Chengyong, president of Jinling Hotels& Resorts.

Jinling made several live broadcasts during the festival via its WeChat mini program, with its employees serving as hosts.

Meanwhile, for the first time, it invested promotional resources in short video platforms Douyin and Kuaishou and the lifestyle sharing platform Xiaohongshu. According to stats, these new platforms helped drive sales, Li said.

Jinjiang Hotels designed a variety of products and packages based on the platforms' characteristics and their user demands.

For Douyin's group buying channel, which is favored by budget-minded consumers, the hotelier offered coupons for some 2,500 hotels across the country. Meanwhile, it posted about travel, leisure and fashion on Xiaohongshu to attract consumers with stronger buying power.

"We consumers also benefited from the strengthened collaboration between hoteliers and online platforms during the shopping festival, as we could select the best prices after carefully selecting and comparing diverse discounted products on different platforms," said Zhou Zhou, a consumer.

Li said that in the long term, effective online operations require detailed strategies such as those on content planning, user engagement and price setting, which must be adjusted and improved constantly.

Industry experts suggested hoteliers adopt information technologies such as big data to analyze their customers involved in the shopping festival, especially new customers, and develop targeted marketing strategies to increase their brand loyalty.