CHINA is gaining prominence as an incentive destination for global companies with its developed infrastructure, ample scenic landscapes and steeped history, but industry players in the country now need to play catch-up in the ‘soft’ aspects to deliver a complete meaningful experience for overseas clients.
With growing market sophistication, there is a stronger interest in cultural and theme properties such as hotels in courtyards, spa hotels and theme hotels like the Venetian or Hotel Indigo in Lijiang Old Town, observed Zhao Hongyu, COO of TUI China.
Sharing similar sentiments, Liu Ping, CEO of China Star, an inbound specialist in incentive travel whose main source markets are Holland, Germany and the US, shared that “themes” and “insider experiences” are key to delivering an impressive incentive programme in China.
Liu remarked that that few players – apart from DMCs with overseas backing – in China fully understand incentive travel. “There are too many ancient town replicas and Raise the Red Lantern-type destinations in China,” she said, adding that she is travelling across the country more often than ever in search of unusual products to wow clients.
However, cultural differences continue to pose challenges for Chinese incentive houses catering to foreigners. Zhao added: “For Chinese, dinners are seen as opportunities for social interaction between delegates, whereas Westerners pay higher emphasis on functions such as welcome parties, cocktail parties and teambuilding sessions as platforms for interaction between delegates.
“Westerners are concerned about content, Chinese are concerned about form,” she opined on the cultural gap in expectations.
“It’s not about creating a memorable event or enough to have good groundhandling services,” she said, urging Chinese incentive planners to understand that the motivations of Western incentive travel are founded not just on monetary terms but also psychological well-being of staff as well.
Kristina Forssell, director of Singapore-based 8th Wave Events & Destinations, shared: “Chinese agencies can often produce anything but not exactly the flavour you’re looking for, and sometimes the knowledge and understanding are just not there.
“We used to struggle with seating arrangements in China as restaurants were more inflexible then. For example, they sometimes could not understand that Western clients may not want to seat 10 people at a table and not be served food in the traditional Chinese set-up even though they’re having Chinese cuisine.”
Although a cultural gap may still exist in the Middle Kingdom’s understanding of the Western market, Joost de Meyer, chairman and CEO of First Incentive Travel US and an active Site International member thinks “that’s the beauty”.
He said: “People want to see China because it is something they read about and see on TV. Although there are differences, there are also comfort zones,” he said.
“The American groups, for example, when they come here, are able to stay in brands they are familiar with back home – InterContinental, Westin and Marriott – and more people in China speak English, which is an absolute advantage.”
Forssell added: “Standards are improving in China, and there are more competent staff in agencies as well, making it easier for us to communicate with our Chinese partners than a few years back.”
Meanwhile, Zhou also lamented the lack of specialised skills among incentive planners.
“It is regrettable that tourism universities and tertiary institutions hardly have any dedicated courses on incentives, instead using exhibition and conference course materials to teach future talent of the incentive industry,” she said.
Additional reporting by Raini Hamdi
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