Influencing Chinese travel decisions

Abstract

By 2006, Macao became the global leader in casino tourism, surpassing the Las Vegas Strip in terms of gross gaming revenue primarily driven by Macao being the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. Conspicuous within Macao’s casino marketing strategy has been the investment in celebrity endorsement to lure Chinese visitors to Macao. China has also emerged as one of the world’s largest and increasingly sought-after high-yield travel markets. As competition intensifies for the emerging Chinese travel market globally, understanding the most optimum communication strategy that can be effectively applied to and influence Chinese outbound travelers can give greater direction to destination marketing agencies and National Tourism Authorities. With a focus on the influence of the celebrity endorsement tactic on travel perceptions and decision making, a face-to-face survey was conducted on 305 Chinese visitors to Macao in 2013. The study revealed that perceptions and destination decision making differed among Chinese visitors with regard to age, gender, education, and income range, when using the celebrity endorsement tactic. The findings showed that celebrity endorsement could be used more strategically to influence and target certain Chinese traveler segments, emphasizing the need to carefully assess the usefulness of such a costly tactic within destination promotional campaigns aimed at the Chinese audience.