Challenge:

A growing demographic of free and independent Chinese travelers are hungry for fresh, new destinations. But as digital and travel trends change and economic tensions rise worldwide, Chinese visitation is seeing double digit declines.

Strategy :

The US remains the top long-haul destination for China’s largest national holiday and outbound travel window, Golden Week - and San Francisco is a huge draw for an emerging group of young, digital-forward FIT travelers.

As the first of its kind in DMO marketing, SFTA created the Golden Week campaign, partnering with United Airlines, SFO, Napa Valley and Concord to position San Francisco as not only the top destination for Golden Week travel, but also as the best place to start and end the ultimate NorCal road trip.

SFTA launched an integrated, innovative social campaign on apps Chinese FIT travelers love and use daily, each with its own unique features and advantages. Travelers were inspired to book trips on China’s premier online travel site, Ctrip.

The campaign didn’t just reawaken Chinese travelers’ desires to visit San Francisco, it showed that social media savvy and creative campaigns are the key to engaging with China’s digital-forward FIT travelers, all while yielding big results.