Beijing, May 25, 2010: Coinciding with the 10th Global Travel & Tourism Summit by the World Travel and Tourism Council Summit (WTTC) in Beijing on May 25-27, 2010, the Year of the Tiger edition of the Guide to Essential Travel Trends was launched, which was the first publication in its form about the Chinese Travel Market.

The first edition of the guide to “Essential China Travel Trends”, published in the year of the Tiger, by ChinaTravelTrends.com, and produced in collaboration between Dragon Trail and VariArts Travel Group, with support from GreenEarth.travel is an attempt to reveal some of the critical trends, and pitfalls when trying to enter this market, and offers insights from practitioners in the industry, including Professor Wolfgang Arlt of COTRI, Damien Little of Horwath HTL, Xiaoan Wei of the China Tourism Academy, Rupert Hoogewerf of the Hurun Report and the China Rich List, Charlie Li of China Southern Airlines, and Daniel Tschudy of HQC Group, Geoffrey Lipman of Greenearth.travel, Lin Xu of the China Luxury Travel Network, and Jens Thraenhart and George Cao of Dragon Trail.

It includes topics such as Internet and Social Media, Distribution, Sustainability, Outbound and Domestic Tourism, MICE, as well as Hotel Development. The book features introductions by Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Jean-Claude Baumgarten, CEO of the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC), and Hiran Cooray, Chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

Since 2008, when world leaders began to advance the green economic strategy, China has not only played a central role in the global and regional institutions, but more than any other country has placed travel and tourism at the heart of its response”, comments Geoffrey Lipman, founder of GreenEarth.travel, and special advisor to the Essential Travel Trends Guide. “China is rapidly emerging as the largest, most dynamic, most promising inbound, outbound and domestic travel market in the world.”

George Cao, co-founder & CEO of Dragon Trail and one of the authors of the book adds: “Chinese consumers are fickle, demanding, price-conscious and often more educated about brands than consumers in the West. A distinctive culture and way of doing business, inadequate data, complex sales channels and unique marketing demands, are a whole new array of challenges to cope for.”

Jens Thraenhart, co-founder & President of Dragon Trail and Chief Editor of ChinaTravelTrends.com, the publisher of the guide adds: “With the most Internet users in the world, the most complex web landscape, a rapidly changing consumer market and dynamic travel technology, China is also potentially the most important e-tourism market in the world. Increasingly consumer research, brand recognition and purchasing is internet shaped. Web marketing is already replacing traditional media as brands and companies seek to connect with their consumers in new and different ways.”

The Tiger Edition of the Guide to “Essential Travel Trends” supports the “Save China’s Tiger Initiative” and offers insights from industry practitioners active in the Chinese travel market, and is available at select industry conferences. Interested conferences and organizations may contact us to discuss partnership opportunities.

In order to view the e-Book version “Essential China Travel Trends – 2010 Tiger Edition”, please visit: http://www.dragontrail.com/en/news/dragon-trail-publishes-the-first-edition-of-the-essential-china-travel-trends-book or see below.

Please download the e-Book here Essential China Travel Trends Book - Tiger Edition (2109)

Print copies of the book can be ordered on Amazon.com at http://url.dragongap.net/cttbooktiger

ABOUT Dragon Trail & ChinaTravelTrends.com

Dragon Trail is the leading travel technology and digital marketing company, by leveraging the complex Chinese online and social media landscape to develop and seed relevant content, executing results-driven digital marketing campaigns, and enabling innovative technology solutions to help travel and tourism organizations to reach and connect with affluent and sophisticated Chinese consumers. Based in Beijing and Shanghai, and founded by Chinese and global e-tourism experts, Dragon Trail has executed award-winning Mandarin language websites and performance-based Chinese social media campaigns for tourist boards and hotel companies from all over the world.
In collaboration with COTRI (China Outbound Tourism Research Institute), the partnership offers an integrated “China Solution”, including technology, marketing, trade sales, and research, as well as service training, combined with specific industry expertise and local knowledge.  Together, both Dragon Trail and COTRI co-publish the resource website and community ChinaTravelTrends.com.