UK needs to harness its inner canine to woo China in the Year of the Dog

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There is little surprise that Chinese travellers are the tourists du jour for businesses and destination brands. The United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s latest figures show the 135 million outbound Chinese tourists spent $261bn (£186m) abroad, making them the world’s top spender in 2016, a figure that has no doubt risen since. Cometh the hour, cometh the yuan.

But what exactly is the UK doing to woo them, and crucially, is the UK doing enough?

The truth is North America and Europe have been losing out to competitors in Thailand, Vietnam and Morocco for quite some time as Chinese tourists are increasingly drawn to locations around the world that market themselves and better understand their audience better

Britain fares no better than the European counterparts it’s departing from. Photo opportunities swigging a beer with Xi Jinping or a selfie with footballer Sergio Aguero at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium from David Cameron apart, Britain’s outward marketing strategy is poor.

Looking at the tourism board’s WeChat, there’s only been one mention of Chinese New Year. It spends more time promoting generic and clichéd British sights that appeal to its own UK audience than capturing the imaginations and specific interests of those in China.

This couldn’t be any more alarming given how carving out new trade paths and bilateral relations becomes ever more pressing each day Brexit looms closer. Worse still, Britain is in a unique position to tap into the opportunity of Chinese tourism given the strength in historical cultural and economic ties between China and the UK that hark back beyond Liverpool having Europe’s oldest Chinatown.

In so doing, Britain’s missing out on a potential 30 per cent windfall in increased tourist stay through destination branding as was revealed to me by my experience working with Singapore to bring it to a wider audience. Given the 6.5 million Chinese tourists travelling abroad during their New Year celebrations are estimated to spend $10bn in total in the first week alone, the missed opportunity is laid bare.

Over-introspection is a common error for countries trying to sell themselves abroad. Recent country slogans by Armenia, Montenegro and Samoa all included the word “beautiful”. But surely all people think their countries are beautiful. These kinds of platitudes are more about speaking to audiences at home than about selling the distinctive features of the country abroad.

In essence, tourist boards need to ask themselves: what makes our country unique, something that will appeal to the audience they’re trying to attract?

Britain needs to answer that question and start tapping into the sort of things and themes that resonate with a Chinese audience not only in China, but equally the diaspora in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Peru and countless other places around the world.

The Year of the Dog presents a special, unmissable opportunity to capitalise upon this year’s focus. To the Chinese, dogs are honest, friendly, faithful, smart, and possess a strong sense of responsibility – all qualities British culture and business identify with. So why not draw upon these qualities and the inseparable link of the British bulldog and the Queen’s corgis to “Brand Britannia” to bring these qualities to life for a Chinese audience?

Britain should also be using the right platforms and channels beyond applying a UK marketing strategy abroad that is completely foreign – excuse the pun – to a Chinese audience. Britain needs to be visible and involved in the platforms Chinese tourists are using before booking their holidays such as travel forums – huge in China – like TiuNiu, CTrip, eLong, or Qunar. Or what about recruiting Chinese influencers like Jessie Hsu who specialises in British culture and travel destination?

Some of Britain’s brands are doing this right – handbag retailer Radley marked Chinese New Year with a 10ft-tall Scottie dog neatly tying the brand icon with the interests of their targeted audience and opportunity. But overall, not enough are nailing this. Britain itself needs to stop talking to itself and make better efforts to understand the big world out there. Ultimately, there’s still a long way to go before Britain and its brands can claim to be accessing their next billion customers.

Jasmine Montgomery, is the chief executive and founder of branding agency Seven Brand