As Chinese tourism booms, the global luxury travel industry has been especially interested in understanding the evolving demands of China?s high-end travelers?whose tastes have been rapidly changing thanks to a combination of factors including travel experience levels, generational differences, and the massive influence of social media and online research. This segment is a key topic of discussion at the inaugural New York Times Luxury Travel Conference that started today in Singapore and takes place through December 2, gathering a wide range of experts to discuss the trends shaping the industry with a particular focus on Asia.
Ahead of the conference (which includes Jing Daily as a media partner), we checked in with panelist Paul Hicks, who is the CEO of GHC Asia, a communications agency with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, and Singapore that works with luxury travel and tourism-focused retail clients including St. Regis, Raffles, Visit Finland, London Luxury Quarter, and McArthurGlen. In a Q&A via email, he discussed the latest evolutions and trends he?s been seeing in China?s luxury travel industry, including the importance of social sharing, the influence of KOLs, the travel habits of Chinese millennials, and more. As Chinese travelers are increasingly looking for new experiences, what role does public relations play in getting them to pay attention to the brand" 
PR has a very important role to play in helping to educate Chinese travele...