Louis T Collection and WIHP Open New Doors For Chinese Travellers
New platform provides independent hotels with Chinese digital marketing tool kit
As Chinese travellers leave the comfort zone of the group tour for do-it-yourself exploration, a new partnership between a fledgling hotel group and a marketing services company is pointing the way. Louis T Collection (Louis T) and WIHP's (World Independent Hotels Promotion) has launched ChinaConnect, a tailored Chinese language service for hotels, with their first property, Hotel Ares Eiffel in Paris.
As Chinese travellers leave the comfort zone of the group tour for do-it-yourself exploration, a new partnership between a fledgling hotel group and a marketing services company is pointing the way.
Louis T Collection (Louis T) and WIHP's (World Independent Hotels Promotion) has launched ChinaConnect, a tailored Chinese language service for hotels, with their first property, Hotel Ares Eiffel in Paris.
The 40-room boutique hotel near the Eiffel Tower was chosen for its eclectic, upscale charm. The interiors are an emblem of the best in European design, with furnishings by leading Italian designer Poltrona Frau, bathrooms clad in Versace tiles, and a range of colour palettes: crimson, teal, gold; used to make each abode distinct.
The portal in the Louis T website opens the door on essential Chinese language content for Hotel Ares Eiffel, including details on rooms and suites, facilities and location. More than that, visitors to the site have access to a bounty of travel advice about Paris specifically tailored to the Chinese market. In the Plan Your Trip section everything is covered from visa information, seasonality, currencies, transportation, where to shop (from department stores to contemporary shopping streets), tourist attractions such as museum and art gallery recommendations, local and Chinese restaurant advice, and even information about movies set in the romantic city. In addition, Louis T has developed a social media strategy on China's most popular online channels, including WeChat and Weibo, and is targeting mobile users in China as part of the project.
Visitors to the site are then able to book direct with the hotel's booking engine but in their native tongue. Louis T will also offer some exclusive packages for the hotel through the Louis T Collection website.
"Though Chinese is by far the world's most spoken language, Chinese travellers, most of the time, still have to navigate in English online when it comes to travel to overseas. Nowadays I see how my Chinese friends who travel frequently, including everyone on the Louis T team in China, search and book online." said Grant Healy, co-founder and CEO at Louis T. "We see a great opportunity in letting independent hotels around the world share their unique stories to the rapidly growing Chinese outbound market.
Hotel Ares Eiffel is the first of several hotels located in key gateway cities in Europe and U.S. destinations favoured by Chinese long haul travellers, that will be moved into the collection. More hotels will be added as demand increases.
"The Chinese market can be puzzling for European and American hotels and very often they try to be visible in those market without a proper strategy," said Vincent Ramelli, President and CEO at WIHP. "Both Grant and I believe that this partnership will provide our hotel clients with a simple and effective way of reaching what has become the largest outbound travel market in the world."
WIHP also offers a full range of services to enhance each hotel's strategy from search engine optimization to SEA and metasearch advertising on local directories, in order to maximize both brand awareness and ROI.
Customers will be able to find and book hotels of the Collection on www.louistcollection.com.
About Louis T Collection
Louis T Collection is an innovative new force in hospitality and building solutions with hospitality ties spanning back more than a century. The group's extensive suite of services is designed to elevate both independent hotels and small hotel groups to the next level of success, while allowing them to maintain their unique charm and essence of location. Louis T achieves this through leveraging a diverse range of expertise and leading-edge technology alliances that optimize styling, improve guest experiences, market share, operational performance and profitability. louistcollection.com/