‘Combo Marketing’ of Wulingyuan in Zhangjiajie enriches tourism promotion

2014 has seen the fast growth of tourists in the Wulingyuan area. On Jan 26, according to the tourist administration in Wulingyuan, the whole area received Chinese and foreign tourists of over 15.398 million in 2014, with a year-on-year growth of 11.5 percent, including overseas tourists of 6.98 million, a year-on-year growth of 9 percent. The accumulated total tourism income was nearly 6.53 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), growing by 14.5 percent compared to 2013. The fast development of the local tourism industry benefits from the good market effect achieved by the great efforts of promotion, which greatly improved the brand influence of the Wulingyuan scenic spot. The following are the concrete measures that the administrative office of the Wulingyuan scenic spot adopted:

Thoroughly investigate and survey the market

A visiting group was dispatched on March 2014 to go to Mount Huangshan, Lijiang and Jiuzhaigou Valley for investigation and survey. They conducted a scientific study on the market after the trip and came up with a series of measures that later promptly controlled tourists decline in the mid-to-end of April and maintained steady growth thereafter.

Attach equal importance to the source countries of visitors

The group conducted a visit to the Pearl River Delta, Fujian province, Northwest and Northeast China. Foreign markets were also listed on their survey, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand in Southeast Asia, where the Wulingyuan-oriented tourist products were warmly welcomed. The trip provided a good chance for them to learn from both the domestic and foreign tourism market.

Innovative marketing

Various activities were held at the Wulingyuan scenic spot, such as photograph exhibitions and a bicycle racing competition. Over 30,000 shutterbugs took part in the activity and nearly 40,000 photos were received. The activity of to invite 10,000 global visitors to enjoy a free trip in Zhangjiajie was a big success, attracting 260,000 people, of which 12,000 got there by driving. The page view of this activity has already exceeded 1 million.

Integrate with network marketing

Different social media platforms such as blogs, Weibo (Chinese Twitter), WeChat and Weishi (Tencent TV) were updated. The official website for the Wulingyuan scenic spot was set up and launched recently online as scheduled. It will become a new highlight for its tourism promotion.

Reinforce branding and image marketing

With the support of Fellow Traveler magazine, a special edition featuring Wulingyuan was released and distributed on the high speed rail between Wuhan and Shenzhen for half a year. A good cooperative relationship has been established with the mainstream media, such as CCTV, Chinese Geography magazine, the International Channel Shanghai and the channel of Hunan Golden Eagle Cartoon to promote the related advertising program. Many foreign TV media from Russia, India, Korea and France compiled and printed 200,000 volumes of two travelling handbooks, Freehand Sketching of Wulingyuan and The Core Scenic Spot in Zhangjiajie, including six categories covering catering, lodging, transportation, travelling, shopping and entertainment in Zhangjiajie. Freehand sketching was offered to the tourists, aiming to provide comprehensive services for self-driving tourists.

Pay adequate attention to policy marketing

Efforts have been made to implement a free entry policy for primary and secondary school students under 19 years old during slack seasons.