Dunedin tourism operators are learning Mandarin, studying Chinese customs and adapting their products to welcome visitors from China.
With more than a million Chinese millionaires, hundreds of billionaires and millions more affluent Chinese wanting to travel, the time was right to lure them to Dunedin, operators were told at a workshop in the city this week.
About 50 Dunedin tour guides, tourism business owners and retailers attended a ''becoming China ready'' seminar run by Amy Adams, of Occam Consulting.
She lived in China for 15 years and worked to help professionals bridge the gap between the Asian nation and the Western world.
Ms Adams explained various customs, expectations and behaviours of Chinese visitors in order for Dunedin tourism professionals to effectively attract them and build meaningful, positive relationships for future business.
Chinese travellers were good at relaying their experiences to friends and family, she said. Therefore, it was crucial for tourism operators to make a positive impression.
Ms Adams detailed ways in which New Zealand operators could accommodate the needs of Chinese tourists and satisfy their expectations, to benefit from the ''word of mouth'' marketing which would invariably follow.
Tourism Dunedin chief executive Hamish Saxton said it was crucial operators understood their customers and could tailor experiences and products to suit.
''We want to demonstrate that Dunedin is China friendly and ready for business. Those who can tailor their offerings in order to provide a better experience will also generate greater investment and yield from those visitors,'' he said.
