Zuji gets resourceful over impact of Vietnam's anti-Chinese riots

Charlie Wong, CEO of online ticketing agent Zuji Hong Kong told Marketing yesterday that the company has a strategy for dealing with crisis such as recent anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam and the impact on ticket sales."The anti-Chinese riots have a fair bit of impact on us. Intuitively, I would say at least a good 20% of our ticket sales to destinations in Vietnam have dropped," said Wong.The Vietnamese city of Danang would have been the second most popular destination on Zuji before the riots broke out."But our travelers are very savvy - if they don't go to Vietnam, they would travel to North Asian countries like Korea and Japan. It's not that they stop traveling - they simply move onto other destinations."According to Wong, when people want to visit a destination because of an ongoing crisis, it's the perfect time to negotiate better deals with airlines and hotels."We have already prepared a supply of the best deals in the market. The beauty of being online is that we can see what our customers are searching.  When we see a comeback in the online traffic for flights to and accommodation in Vietnam, we will launch those deals," he said."Speed to market is our strength. We anticipate a trend while good deals are still available during a time of crisis, so we can get the best prices for our customers while also helping our suppliers out."Seoul is the most popular destination for Hongkongers on Zuji, followed by Tokyo and Taipei.The destinations that Zuji hopes to promote the most are low-lying islands such as the Maldives, Venice and sites such as the Great Barrier Reef."These low-lying destinations would disappear in 10 years' time because of global warming, climate change and pollution. The campaigns will be focused on inspiring people to visit these places," said Wong.A campaign that Zuji plans to roll out in June will also be about inspiring customers who traditionally use offline ticket agents to go online."The theme is change," he says. "We will use historical icons like Obama, whose catch phrase is always 'Change' to show it's time for you to change and go online for your travel plans. Another creative will focus on Nelson Mandela who is all about liberation and show that you are free to plan your own travels and choose what you want."The ads in the campaign will be featured in mostly offline media such as newspapers, magazines and out-of-home.Wong says that less than 10% of travelers use online ticketing agents, with over 90% preferring to book flight tickets and hotel rooms at a physically present travel agency."Hong Kong is very small. We see a high density of traditional agencies, for example, in shopping malls," he said."Hong Kong people like service and enjoy having travel agents validate their ideas. It's like how Hong Kong women sometimes need their boyfriends to validate their choices.  They would weigh lots of different options but at the end of the day, they will choose the original destination they wanted to go in the first place."The fastest growing segment of Zuji's customer base is still the age group of 25- to 35-year-olds who are very active on social media, with the more mature end of the market entering the website usually through search engines.Earlier this year, Zuji Hong Kong launched the Zuji Exclusive Channel where exclusive news and special deals were gathered in one place.Since the channel was launched, combined with traffic from social media and exclusive channel into its website, sales went up by more than double while the site's page views went up by almost 6%.Wong points out that getting a flight takes priority over booking accommodation for Hongkongers."Because Hong Kong is very close to resort destinations, people usually take short holidays over long weekends or a few days so their number one priority is to fly out on time after they leave the office and fly back before they have to go to work," he said."In mature markets such as the US and Australia, the user behavior is very different.  For example, when Australians are booking for a package deal, they always book the hotel first and then the flight.  Because Australia is so far from everywhere, they want to make sure they get the resort or hotel they want to relax for an entire week."