Searches for overseas hotels have surged in China recently. Not only does it indicate a resurgence of the hotel industry, but also a business opportunity for the hotel industry. Hotels can place compelling online advertisements to convert these online users into customers. We will discuss the searches for overseas hotels in China and share some tips for hotels when placing ads in China as follows.

1. Search volume for overseas hotels surges after China reopens borders

After the reopening of China's borders and the stabilization of travel policies for Chinese in many countries, the search volume for overseas hotels hit a new high and is expected to grow continuously.

Qihoo 360, a leading search engine in China, noticed the surge and investigated the demographics of these searches. Advertisers in the hotel industry are recommended to refer to these demographics in order to develop a cost-effective marketing plan. 

For instance, among these overseas hotel searches, 36.2% came from East China, 18.6% came from South China, and 14.6% came from North China. It is recommended that hotels can allocate more budget to areas with a high concentration of target groups.

Besides, 68% of these high-potential hotel customers own a car, have children and/or are married. Given these, hotels may consider advertising their accommodation packages for couples or families, or discounts on parking, etc. 

If you are interested in learning more about the demographics of these high-potential hotel customers in China, please get in touch with us at enquiry@so360.hk.

China’s overseas hotel searches surged in late 2022

Overseas hotel searches in China are relatively concentrated in East China

2. At least 80% of hotels invest primarily in PC Search and/or Brand Express

PC Search and Brand Express have been the top two popular ad products in the hotel industry over the past few years. At least 80% of hotels are using them. The tips for hotels to stand out and increase cost-effectiveness with these two products are as follows.

PC Search Ad and Brand Zone Ad are popular ad products in the hotel industry

2.1 Add advanced styles to CPC ads to increase sales

By adding advanced styling, hotels can differentiate their cost-per-click (CPC) ads from other ads. As shown in the screenshot below, booking.com included some nice images in its CPC ads, as well as many sub-links to different booking pages, making its ads look richer and stand out in search results.

Booking.com added multiple advanced styles in its CPC Ad

2.2 Use Brand Express to effectively increase bookings

Brand Express enables hotels to include more eye-catching and informative content on their results pages that take up the entire screen, making it easier for users to make reservations and effectively increase bookings.

Taking IHG as an example, with Brand Express, IHG added many eye-catching sub-links and beautiful ad photos on its result page, occupying the entire screen. Users who are attracted to click on these sub-links and ad photos will be redirected to the reservation pages of rooms or restaurants of different branches of IHG. 

IHG's Brand Express takes up almost the entire screen of search results

Two other examples are from Tongcheng Travel and Qunar, who both put a colorful full-screen ad on their Brand Express. Please see the screenshots below.

The Brand Express ad of Tongcheng Travel

The Brand Express ad of Qunar

If you want to invest in the abovementioned Qihoo 360 ad products, please do not hesitate to contact us at enquiry@so360.hk.