CHINESE students are the next wave of travellers Sovereign Hill expects to walk through its doors in the future.
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The outdoor museum continues to strengthen its ties with the international community with a number of marketing initiatives.
It recently staged its third global fashion design competition, which China embraced like never before.
The people’s choice award received more than 40,000 Chinese votes online, while key Chinese travel agents were used as models at the fashion show gala in Beijing, creating unprecedented social media activity among the Chinese travel industry.
The competition sees a direct correlation between the staging of the event, and people visiting the outdoor museum.
Sovereign Hill chief executive officer Jeremy Johnson said the competition sparked an interest in Chinese students visiting Australia.
“Students in China, and indeed other parts of the world, are the next wave of travellers,” Mr Johnson said.
“They’re interested in learning about Western culture, and our fashion design competition provides a platform to those Chinese students who might never have heard of Victoria. It sparks an interest in our country, and a desire to visit or study here in the future.”
“China is such an important market for Australia, and we know that the work that Sovereign Hill is doing is adding value to the tourism experience. We look forward to welcoming many more Chinese visitors to Sovereign Hill in 2016.”
Other ways the outdoor museum attracts and retains Chinese tourists includes providing Asian food menus, Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking tour guides and headsets that translate the Blood on the Southern Cross sound and light show.
Sovereign Hill’s website is available in Chinese and it has tapped into Chinese social media websites, including Wechat and Youku Tudou.
Two out of five Chinese visitors who come to Victoria visit Sovereign Hill. More than 90,000 Chinese tourists visited last financial year.
Students from Dalian University of Technology (DUT) in China visited Sovereign Hill on Thursday as part of a study tour hosted by Federation University Australia.
DUT student Hui Wang said she was interested in learning about Australian culture on her first visit to the country.
While in at Sovereign Hill, the 21 business students learnt about Sovereign Hill’s marketing. They will continue their study tour next week, visiting Central Highlands Water and Haymes Paint.
