“Visitors from China currently account for the third largest number of international visitors to York Minster – around 98,000 each year.  York Minster has been involved in a number of city initiatives to welcome Chinese visitors.  However in the Spring of  2019,  we established a separate strand of targeted marketing activity for Chinese visitors which is managed for us by Will Zhuang and OE Media.

 

“They translate York Minster’s marketing materials and information and posts them on WeiBo and WeChat reaching tens of thousands of followers and tourism industry leaders in China.  They were instrumental in the development of our Chinese language leaflet which includes QR codes which take visitors to WeChat and WeiBo where they can instantly access more detailed information about the Minster during their visit. Will has suggested a number of areas of our operations which could be improved to provide an even better experience.  In 2020 we hope to start a project that will inform and educate Chinese visitors about the history and purpose of cathedrals as religious buildings and to explain and help them to understand some of the things that they might encounter during their visit, such as prayers or a service.

 

“Will has challenged us to prioritise cultural sensitivity,  to be more self-critical and reflective about the quality of welcome we give to our Chinese visitors and to respond to their needs more effectively”.

 

Director of Communications

York Minster