Introduction: The New Year is approaching, and the holidays are coming one after another, and the Christmas Eve and Christmas that have just passed are one of them. As early as before Christmas, Macau's hotel industry expects the occupancy rate of Christmas stalls to be about 80% to 90% this year, based on booking data from major platforms. At the same time, according to the press release of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region**, about 9.03 million people entered and left Hong Kong during Christmas and New Year's Day this year. As in previous years, Hong Kong and Macau are still the first choice for many people to celebrate Christmas. Why do we love to go to Hong Kong and Macau to stay in hotels for Christmas?
part1 "Always believe in Christmas in Hong Kong and Macau".
You can always believe in Christmas in Hong Kong and Macau, and it will never disappoint", under the topic of Christmas in Xiaohongshu, the proportion of notes that lamented the strong Christmas atmosphere in Hong Kong and Macau. In these notes, there are not only personal check-in and photo sharing, but also Christmas strategies in Hong Kong and Macau, and some of them have sorted out the must-check seats for Christmas.
In fact, unlike other cities in China, in Hong Kong and Macau, Christmas is not a specific day, but more often covers the entire month of December. Therefore, there is also a saying that December is the Christmas month in Hong Kong and Macau. The Christmas atmosphere in Hong Kong and Macau is created by luxury brand stores, department stores and luxury hotels, as well as public forces such as Christmas Town.
In Hong Kong and Macau, many luxury hotels have become one of the key destinations for young people to spend Christmas.
1. The Peninsula Hong Kong x Chanel
This year's Peninsula Hong Kong Hotel has a huge "Chanel necklace" - double C" logo, bow ribbons, bead chains, and jewelry hanging on the exterior wall, which has once again become one of the important check-in points for Christmas in Hong Kong. Last year, The Peninsula Hong Kong's Christmas was lit up with the N°5 fragrance, but it was not just about Christmas, it was also about celebrating the 100th anniversary of Chanel's first fragrance, the 40th anniversary of Chanel's Peninsula *** and the successful expansion.
At the same time, the Christmas tree in the lobby of The Peninsula Hong Kong is also a CHANEL collaboration, with black, white and gold as the main colors, and a large black bow on the top, which is even more elegant. Such a "sweet and cool" style co-branded Christmas tree is not only present at The Peninsula Hong Kong, but also at The Peninsula Shanghai and Beijing. In addition, a replica of the Swiss town in front of the buffet restaurant of The Peninsula Hong Kong restores the peaceful and beautiful town, as well as the non-stop running train and cable car.
2. The Venetian Macao x Christmas Tree
An indoor canal modeled after a Venetian waterway was built in the lobby of the hotel, surrounded by arched bridges and buildings, reminiscent of Venice, the Sands Venetian Macao's resort. Every year, The Venetian's Christmas set is one of the highlights of Macau's Christmas atmosphere. The Christmas tree is one of the most important. There is a saying that "The Venetian Macao has never lost when it comes to Christmas trees".
This year, a giant Christmas tree is placed on the right side of the entrance to the lobby of the Venetian East Wing, which is lit up every evening around half past five. What's more, next to the escalator in Venice, you can photograph both the giant Christmas tree and The Londoner Macao's 96-meter-tall Big Ben. Not only that, but the Venetian resort also has a large Christmas tree inside. Of course, the Christmas trees inside The Londoner and Parisian Macao resorts are just as splendour-seeing.
part2 It's all a man-made atmosphere, where is Hong Kong and Macao?
A few days ago, a blogger who lives in Shanghai and loves to travel around the world lamented that he is keen to create a Christmas atmosphere in Shanghai every year with fruits and decorations, and recently went to the north and suddenly found that there is a lack of real snow. As the most important element of Christmas atmosphere, with the blessing of real snow, the Christmas atmosphere in Shenyang, Dalian and Harbin has somewhat caught up with the momentum of coastal cities.
Indeed, neither Hong Kong nor Macau, nor other coastal cities where Christmas culture is more prevalent, are unlikely to snow on Christmas Day. Among them, Hong Kong and Macau are even more unlikely. So, in these cities, there is no real snow, and the Christmas atmosphere is more "artificial". In that case, why are Hong Kong and Macau able to stand out?
The core support of urban culture
First of all, it is important to acknowledge that Christmas is a foreign culture, and although it is short-lived, it still poses a certain challenge to the inclusiveness of the city's original culture. However, whether it is Hong Kong or Macau, the city's culture is diverse and integrated. In this historical context, different cultural factors have developed and grown in Hong Kong and Macao, creating the diversity and richness of the cultural culture of the two cities today.
As a result, different ethnic groups from all over the world, in addition to the Chinese, can find their cultural identity in Hong Kong and Macau. Macau, for example, is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, and its ethnic composition is complex. Not only in the population, but also in the architecture is an important window to show multiculturalism. In Macau, it is not uncommon for Chinese-style arcade buildings to be painted in goose yellow, which is commonly used in Portuguese architecture. In addition, classic Portuguese architectural colors such as pink green, light purple and custard are more common.
An effective blessing for hotel gathering
As mentioned above, hotels have become important to the Christmas atmosphere of the city**. Of course, the hotels referred to here are more of high-luxury hotels. From the hotel building itself, to the linkage with luxury brands, to the hotel's customized catering, service and custom reproduction for Christmas, it seems that Christmas in the hotel has become a "new holiday custom" among some young consumer groups.
At The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, strong symbols of Christmas are everywhere. For example, the snow cabin in the hotel lobby, mulled wine, gingerbread house, Christmas tree and snowflake street lamps are all elements that meet people's imagination of Christmas in many ways. Not only that, at the hotel's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, the hotel also gave hot cocoa to the guests, so that the Christmas mood was sublimated on the tip of the tongue.
Sensory resonance of art and cultural activities
If the Christmas trees and other Christmas decorations scattered in all corners of the city are regarded as the festive scenery of the city, then the art and cultural activities that take place in them are to allow people to have more festive interaction with the city. In fact, in recent years, domestic art and cultural activities have gradually emerged, such as theme markets, small ** meetings and different types of performances. However, Hong Kong and Macau are clearly more prominent in the creation of art and cultural activities at Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, the Macao Orchestra and the Macao Chinese Orchestra will perform at the Ruins of St. Paul's, a famous World Heritage site in Macao, where people can sit on the stairs and listen to the music full of Christmas colors. In Hong Kong, the Victoria Harbour Water Fireworks Exhibition has been held regularly since 9 December, with festive patterns such as "Christmas trees" and "gifts" blooming on the sea on Christmas night.
Part3 What is the right way for a hotel to open the festival?
The impact of Christmas is not only in the cultural sector, but also in the consumer sector, and the same is true for the whole world. That's why Merriam-Webster's Dictionary has added a new word, "Christmas spread." Therefore, business entities, including hotels, will launch many marketing strategies and themed products at Christmas, which is in line with market logic.
Not only Christmas, but also other traditional festivals such as New Year, New Year's Day, Valentine's Day and Mid-Autumn Festival have also become one of the important marketing nodes of luxury hotels. The same is marketing, such as the sale of seasonal foods such as moon cakes and zongzi, for most hotels, not only in the consumer market feedback is not satisfactory, but also will bring trouble to hotel staff.
So, what is the right way for hotels to open the festival and let hotels achieve a win-win situation for passenger flow, revenue and even the city?
1. Ritual value
Even at a time when consumption moderation has become the mainstream, the consumption behavior of paying for the value of rituals is on the rise. For hotels, the two major products are fixed, room and food and beverage, but the ritual value can give these regular products a difference.
Taking hotel catering as an example, theme decoration and food modeling are important parts of the value of the ceremony, and at the same time, it can also attract consumers to take photos and share them and get more consumers' attention.
The festival-limited event experience can also effectively increase the ritual value of hotel festival marketing. At Christmas, the lighting ceremony of the Christmas tree has almost become the standard in luxury hotels. In addition, some hotels have both ceremonies and more interaction with Christmas installations, such as the St. Regis nightly saber champagne ritual, which takes place under the Christmas tree during the Christmas season.
2. Cultural values
Now, because of too frequent holiday marketing and over-consumption-oriented related promotions, many consumers are resistant to holiday marketing. Therefore, festival marketing also needs to increase cultural value, communicate with consumers culturally, and convey the culture of the hotel and its brand to consumers in the process.
In this regard, in recent years, we have seen many garden-type hotels in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and their performance is remarkable. Take the winter solstice just past as an example, in fact, there are not many hotels that do activities on the winter solstice. However, Suzhou Tongli Lake Hotel has created a winter solstice festival, which includes tasting the traditional food of the winter solstice, drinking Suzhou winter wine, and experiencing hand-made winter pickles. Folklore experiences such as these hit the growing awareness of local culture among mass consumers.
In addition, hotels can also choose to "create festivals" to create a cultural experience that resonates more with consumers by combining brand concepts and project features. Especially for some hotels with young consumers as the mainstream customer group, you can learn from some of Xiaohongshu's "festival-making" themes and activity settings.
Conclusion: When talking about why young people like to spend Christmas, there is such an answer, "Ingest some pure happiness between high-speed operations". Yes, the festival can bring people a unique sense of healing, which can help us overcome fatigue and exhaustion. The hotel can be an almond candy in the festival, make the festival a little sweeter, and remind us of the existence of beauty. Obviously, the Hong Kong and Macau hotels have already served a satisfying marzipan.