Chinese tourist whisperer

By Elizabeth Ah-Hi 14 July 2018, 12:00AM

Meet the newly appointed representative for the Samoa Tourism Authority in China.

Marcus Lee is an internationally renowned author and speaker, who specialises in maximising opportunities on doing business with China, and is currently chair of the Association of Small Medium Enterprises (S.M.E.) Business owners in China and is a board director of Welcome China Promotion.

As a popular international consultant sought by governments and businesses around the world looking to tap into a lucrative market as China, Lee will share his secrets on how to attract Chinese tourists to boost Samoa’s visitor numbers.

Speaking to the Weekend Observer, Acting C.E.O. of Samoa Tourism Authority, Joe Chan Ting says Lee delivers results. 

“Marcus Lee is Samoa’s representative in China and is promoting tourism for us. He comes with an impressive network and he is the chairman of S.M.E. in China which comprises of 11,000 companies,” he added. 

Under the “Welcome China” promotion, which S.T.A. have subscribed to, Lee is acting as the official sales representative for Samoa in Shanghai. There is another designated person who handles requests in Chinese. Taking action to become “China Ready” themselves, the S.T.A have started to take Lee’s advice.

“We are now giving him our website to be hosted in China and in Chinese as well and we will be carrying out advanced social media,” said Chan Ting.

Lee has been on the radar of the S.T.A. for a number of years and caught the attention of the private sector in Samoa, which Chan Ting says will translate to benefits for the country. 

In his last visit to Samoa, Lee met all members of the private sector including the chamber of commerce and the banks. As part of the “Welcome China” promotion, he will facilitate at a workshop targeting the tourism and hospitality sector which will be held at the Aggie Greys Sheraton from August 8-9.

The China Outbound Tourism Research Institute estimates that in 2017 Chinese tourists made 145 million cross-border trips and spent US$261 billion in 2016. 

By Elizabeth Ah-Hi 14 July 2018, 12:00AM

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