Germany gives Chinese tourists digital hand

Last year, tourism from China to Germany witnessed a dynamic recovery, the tourist board said, and it anticipates a renewed increase in demand from Chinese travelers in 2024 and 2025. "And to meet this demand and develop effective marketing strategies, we need an up-to-date and comprehensive understanding of their digital habits, information-gathering methods, sources of inspiration, and booking behavior," Hedorfer says.

"The dialogue with leading Chinese technology and tourism companies allows us to pick up on consumer trends early on and to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring that Germany continues to market itself successfully in China in the digital age and that it remains the most popular European travel destination for Chinese tourists," she adds.

In recent years, the German National Tourist Board has launched several campaigns in the Chinese market in collaboration with local technology companies.

For instance, in 2018, it partnered with Alipay to stage an online shopping festival and in 2020, it launched an official WeChat mini-program to promote what Germany has to offer.

"To maintain and expand Germany's strong position as a European destination for Chinese travelers, an integral part of our strategy has always been working closely together with our local partners, using social networks in China, and collaborating with leading online portals like Trip.com," Hedorfer says.

In 2023, the tourist board worked with Chinese search engine Baidu, whose ERNIE Bot (Wenxin Yiyan) was trained using a wide range of travel content to provide visitors with a personalized AI assistant for their trip to Germany.

To target potential customers even more effectively, the board has worked closely with its partners on optimizing the entire customer journey, particularly enhancing digital customer services that Chinese guests value, such as mobile payments, Hedorfer says.