Most Visited Sights Cooperate and Want to Attract More Chinese Tourists Through WeChat

Schönbrunn goes China! From left: Petra Stolba, Dagmar Schratter, Klaus Panholzer / Picture: © Vienna Zoo / Daniel Zupanc

The most visited sight in Austria, with around four million visitors, is Schönbrunn Palace.

Second place is the Schönbrunn Zoo with around two million visitors.

Asian guests (Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans) lead the visitor ranking in the palace – closely followed by guests from Germany and the USA.

“In addition to measures to preserve and restore the original character of the imperial palaces, we also focus on cooperation as well as new initiatives and offers to inspire people worldwide with the imperial heritage and the world of the Habsburgs,” explains Klaus Panholzer, Managing Director of Schönbrunn Palace.

Flagships of Austria’s sights present themselves at WeChat

One of these initiatives is the entry into WeChat, with more than one billion users the most used and used app in China, the most important Asian market of origin for Schönbrunn Palace with around 350,000 (2018) guests.

On this universal app for Chinese travellers, Schönbrun Palace is now launching targeted advertising measures for the first time as part of a joint market initiative with Tiergarten Schönbrunn and Österreich Werbung.

The most important aspect here is digital marketing tailored to the Chinese market of origin, with the focus on addressing the target group of FITs (Free Independent Travellers).

“Austria’s most visited sights now also play a pioneering role in the Chinese social media channel WeChat among Austria’s attractions,” explains Emanuel Lehner-Telič, Region Manager Asia of Österreich Werbung.

“Thanks to the intensive and direct cooperation with Tencent, we as Österreich Werbung were able to provide very good support in implementing the marketing strategy,” says Lehner-Telič.

In China, digital services that in Austria still sound like distant dreams of the future or are currently being implemented are already a reality.

“In order to make itself noticeable in China, it needs completely different communication entrances and authority and for us a completely new beginning of thinking , knows Dr.in Petra Stolba, business guide of the Austria advertisement.

“Our ÖW colleagues in Beijing know their way around, support and accompany the industry optimally. It is nice that we are implementing an exciting digital cooperation in China together with the flagships of the Austrian sights.”

Schönbrunn Zoo also wants to inspire visitors from China. After all, the rare Great Panda, China’s national pride and a symbol of friendly relations between the People’s Republic of China and Austria have been living in the zoo since 2003. Currently, the proportion of Chinese guests at the zoo is only around 0.5 per cent. “As the oldest zoo in the world with a combination of imperial charm and modern animal husbandry, we have an attractive unique selling point,” says Prof.in Dr.in Dagmar Schratter, Director of Schönbrunn Zoo. “With over 700 animal species there is always something going on and we are looking forward to spreading our animal news in China via WeChat as well.

New guidance system for sustainable visitor management

In order to maintain and further expand Schönbrunn’s position as a magnet for the public in the future, it is necessary to offer guests a unique experience and Schönbrunn Palace is doing this very successfully, among other things by using digital technologies. As the number one tourist destination, orientation and visitor flow management are of central importance at all levels.

Original Source