MarryCaribbean.com Scores Big with China’s Affluent Travelers
A Division of Global Bridal Group: Caribbean Destination Weddings and Honeymoon Travel Site makes an indelible mark with China’s outbound tourists
MarryCaribbean.com, the premier website for information on weddings and honeymoons in the Caribbean (Division of Global Bridal Group), reports that in the past ninety days their public relations campaign in China has recorded over 350 articles and posts on social media platforms. The focus of this outreach is to bring the Caribbean and its wedding and honeymoon product to the new generation of affluent Chinese citizens, while targeting wealthy Chinese couples. This campaign is being carried out through a network of China’s travel opinion leaders and social media platforms.
Working in tandem with the Shanghai Travelers Club, MarryCaribbean.com had approximately 4.0 million page views on social media within a three month promotion. “As the only Caribbean travel web portal with visibility in China to promote romance, weddings and honeymoons to our islands, we are pleased and proud of the presence we have established and particularly on the social media platform. China is an ideal market for the Caribbean – their economy is strong and the country is strategically located for future expansion” said Jacqueline Johnson, CEO of MarryCaribbean.com. “We placed a special focus on Beijing” she continued, “because of their higher per capita income than most of the regions of China, easier access to visa application procedures and their residents seem more willing and able to visit foreign countries than people in the rest of the country”.
In a recent issue of China Elite Focus, the following is a synopsis of the Chinese Market:
How much is $264 billion? It’s about the size of Finland’s economy and bigger than Greece’s.
“China-mania spread globally in the past few years, akin to when the Japanese started travelling some 30 years ago, when the world went into frenzy then, pandering to Japanese customers’ needs,” the analysts wrote. “In our view, this is going to be bigger and will last longer given China’s population of 1.3 billion vs Japan’s population of 127 million.”
Millennials, or 25- to 34- year olds, are expected to make up the bulk of Chinese tourists at 35% of the total, followed by 15- to 24- year olds accounting for around 27%.
“Chinese travelers now massively prefer to shop overseas. Buying a luxury product in Mainland China is seen as “Uncool” and shows that you can’t afford to travel to New York city, Paris or London to buy at the original brand ‘s flagship store” says Pierre Gervois, Publisher of the New York City based Shanghai Travelers’ Club magazine.
Only about 5% of China’s 1.3 billion populace are thought to hold passports, meaning the potential for outbound tourism is vast.
The projected boom could be good news for the global economy. The Chinese are the world’s biggest consumers of luxury goods, with half of that spending done overseas. Chinese visitors to the U.S. have risen more than 10% since 2009, the fastest pace for a destination outside of Asia. Australia, France and Italy are also popular.
Asian markets stand to benefit, with the biggest uptick tipped for Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, according to the research led by Billy Ng in Hong Kong.
Source: Chinese tourists Blog / Bloomberg / Bank of America
It is with these projections in mind that the MarryCaribbean.com campaign also targeted the urban, affluent Chinese couples living in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing along with the richest second tier cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, Chengdu and Chongqing.
The Social Media Marketing and PR campaign promotes the Marry Caribbean website and its advertisers as the leading wedding and honeymoon website customized for prospective Chinese visitors seeking information on Caribbean destinations for weddings and honeymoons. The campaign will use a network of influential Chinese travel bloggers, who will publish posts, articles, pictures and links to the Marry Caribbean website to increase awareness among affluent Chinese travelers.
About MarryCaribbean.com
www.MarryCaribbean.com, is a global travel site with a distinctly personal touch. CEO Jacqueline Johnson, CTC was Executive Travel Director of Brides Magazine, Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, Brides Destination Weddings & Honeymoons and Brides.com. She has also served as VP/Associate Publisher for Bridal Guide Magazine. For over two decades she served on the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) with the Ministers and Directors of Tourism for 34 separate countries, and for the past 10 years she has been a member of the Executive Committee. She is also the recipient of CTO’s Medal of Excellence as one of the 50 Most Influential Persons in the Caribbean. Johnson is Chairman of the CTO Foundation, an organization that raises funds to further the education of outstanding Caribbean citizens who have demonstrated a career commitment to tourism; and she is a Certified Travel Counselor (CTC). She is a contributor to Travel Agent Magazine and is frequently invited to speak on the wedding and honeymoon travel market, worldwide.
