Recently updated on January 11th, 2024 at 08:40 pm
Globalization, like any other industry, also affects tourism. Travelling and tourism are some of the popular domains with reaping benefits. Savvy travel companies know that the best way to win the business is to communicate with travelers in their native language. It’s also one of the quickest ways to build international brand awareness. If your business is targeting Chinese tourists, the first and foremost important step is hiring a professional tourism translation service provider who can guarantee the best Chinese translation.
In this article, we’ll review:
Table of Contents
- Why is Translation Important in Tourism Sector?
- The Importance of Chinese Tourism Translation Service
- Challenges of Chinese Tourism Translation Service
- Professional Chinese Tourism Translation Service by Chinese Copywriter
- English-Chinese Glossary of Tourism Terms
- Frequently Asked Questions
To get prepared for their trips, Chinese travelers usually search first for information and activities presented in their language. This means that hotels, travel agencies, airports, and restaurants all need to provide their documentation in Chinese to expand their business with clear and effective messages. For tourism, it’s particularly important to adapt communication to the specific characteristics of the target audience.
Why is Translation Important in Tourism Sector?
Providing travel guides, websites, maps, menus, brochures in the native language of the tourists help them make informed decisions while planning their trip. In addition, it makes them feel welcomed and it’s more likely that they would come to eat or stay at your establishment.
The Importance of Chinese Tourism Translation Service
Chinese travelers are the biggest spenders in the world. The US Travel Association noted in its own report that Chinese visitors spent roughly USD 7,200 per person in the US, much more than visitors from other nations. According to another survey by Hotel.com, for 9% of Chinese tourists, having travel and tourism guides available in Chinese is the single most important service they expect from their hotels, while 7% mentioned a Chinese language hotel website as an essential service.
Smart and wealthy tourists are always seeking new destinations. If you plan to promote your company, travel, and leisure services, translating all travel data into Chinese increases your chance to succeed.
Well-translated travel and tourism documents can do wonders for a travel agency. if you own a restaurant or a hotel in a region that is highly populated with visitors, expats, or foreigners, it is crucial to have all of your documents translated to the major languages. It is a small investment for a significant boost in customer experience, satisfaction, which ultimately drives profits and improves your reputation.
Challenges of Chinese Tourism Translation Service
The challenge of Chinese tourism translation is that it is really nuanced. When it comes to professional Chinese tourism translation service, there are so many aspects to be taken into account. There are vast cultural differences between countries that only locals and native translators can notice. They will bring their cultural sensitivity into their translation to make it as sounds as natural as possible. Things that may seem normal in your country can turn out to be offensive in your customers’ country. That’s not to mention the non-linguistic differences such as date format, currency, measurement system, and sometimes even color, all of which have to be taken into consideration by a professional tourism translation team.
Professional Chinese Tourism Translation Service by Chinese Copywriter
Understanding the huge demand for high-quality Chinese translations in the Tourism and Hospitality industry, we have developed a team of cultural experts to help you. Most of our team is also well-traveled, being knowledgeable on how to transmit character and culture in your texts and on the importance of it. Your tourism translation project will be delivered without cultural errors, reflecting the hospitality of your company, ready for your Chinese customers to enjoy.
Whether it is a website, a listing, hotel print-outs, menus, brochures, or anything else, we are here to help.
Website Localization Service
Tourism is a truly “global” industry that must always reach out to international users, customers and travelers. Statistics show that more than 80% of customers agree that they prefer browsing and reading about their favorite tour, hotel, and travel destination in their native language. That alone is enough reason for hotel websites and tour websites to localize their platforms to the languages that their customers speak. Not only will this boost customer satisfaction, but also opens up huge opportunities to reach and connect with customers that otherwise wouldn’t have bothered with your business due to language differences.
Marketing Materials Translation
Marketing is a big part of tourism. Customers need to know about the places they can visit and what experience they can expect to go through there. And of course, they want to read it in their native language. Instead of having to constantly translate everything on the go and feeling “lost” in a country where nobody understands what they say, tourists can easily navigate around when they have a guide, a map, or a travel brochure written in their native language.
In tourism sector, the challenge of translating marketing materials into Chinese is about preserving its original “personality”. The writer of the content has spent a lot of time and effort to convey a lot of cultural nuances in their copy, and it’s up to the translators to respect and effectively adapt their masterfully written copy to the languages of foreign readers. And of course, the translators have to be aware of cultural offenses and remove all of them if necessary. The final goal is to still retain the original style and “feel” while still making everything relatable and understandable to the readers.
This is not at all an easy task. Only a translator with copywriting experience and cultural sensitivity can take on this task and accomplish it. It can be hard to find someone with such a high level of skills. However, if you are a travel agency seeking to establish a multi-country presence, you will need to find a professional tourism translator.
Tourism Translation Service for Restaurants and Hotels
When traveling to a foreign country, it is a must to try out the cuisine there. It is not just about enjoying the food, but also about enjoying the culture, lifestyle, and the people there. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that all travelers should try. Understanding this demand, hotels, and restaurants in regions with a developed tourism industry always want to achieve customer satisfaction by offering amazing foods and drinks to their customers.
However, language differences can be quite a hindrance to that goal. It is not simple to translate these documents. Some niche has a very distinct and unique terminology. A tourism and hospitality translator is required to have a unique set of vocabulary for the niche they translate, and it is not easy to develop that kind of vocabulary if they haven’t worked in the industry for at least a few years.
English-Chinese Glossary of Tourism Terms
The following is a brief list of commonly used tourism terms.
English | Chinese |
property irregularity report | 行李事故报告书 |
vitro ceramic hobs | 玻璃陶瓷炉/微晶玻璃炉 |
4-star-superior hotel | 豪华四星酒店; 四星级豪华酒店 |
a fully commentated hop-on, hop-off attractions loop tour | 全程解说的随乘随下环城游 |
a smile goes a long way | 会心的微笑就是最好的语言 |
a vibrantly visual reflection | 撼人心魄的美景 |
action packed thrill | 充满动感的刺激项目 |
Adjoining rooms | 相连房间/连通房间 |
airport run | 机场接送(服务) |
“Trust the Chef” Menu | 总厨推荐 |
balcony and terrace | 阳台 & 露台 |
banana sailing | 乘坐香蕉船 |
Basix Accommodation & Original Accommodation | 基本住宿和原始(露营)住宿 |
bed & breakfasts | 家庭旅馆 |
board plan | 膳食计划 |
boutique hotels | 精品酒 |
breakfast in the room | 送早餐到房服务 |
budget concern travelers | 精打细算的旅客 |
cabana boys | 侍应生 |
check control | 支票管控 |
Chinese shadow painting | 中国水墨画 |
colonial floors | 殖民式风格地板 |
Cooked-to-Order Breakfast | 现点现做的早餐 |
corner kitchen | 角落厨房 |
Culinary and Wine Focus | 美食佳酿荟萃 |
day lodge | 日间旅馆(舍) |
day rate | 白天(优惠价) |
decadence and indulgence | 美酒佳肴 |
destination resorts | 度假目的地 |
drawcard | 卖点/景点/旅游胜地 |
exceptional conditions | 异常优越的状况 |
exclusive atmosphere | 尊贵独享的氛围 |
express check out | 快速退房/特快退房 |
express room | 便捷房 |
fitness vs. wellness | 健身与养生 |
English | Chinese |
fountain kitchen | 饮水间 |
free-standing bathtub | 独立式浴缸 |
frequent traveler dry cleaning | 旅行常客干洗服务 |
functioning restaurant | 运营中的餐厅 |
guided city tour | 导游带队市区游 |
high ceilings | 挑高空间 |
historic icons | 历史古迹 |
homeware | 家居饰物 |
honesty bar | 诚实吧台 |
hospitality brand | 接待服务品牌 |
hospitality experience | 对殷勤服务的感受 |
hospitality property | 旅游接待型物业 |
hot deal with breakfast | (酒店等)含早餐优惠价/促销价 |
hot tub | (供多人坐浴用,常装有喷水装置的) 热水浴缸 |
in-room entertainment | 室内娱乐(设施) |
infinity pool | 无边际泳池 |
itinerary | 行程表 |
landscaped pool | 景观游泳池 |
laundry and valet services | 洗衣熨衣服 |
occupancy rate | 入住率 |
ocean front hotel | 面海宾馆 |
oral water ingestion | 饮水疗法 |
overnight shoe shine | 隔夜擦鞋服务 |
packed lunches | 盒装午餐 |
partial air conditioning | 局部空调 |
partial ocean view | 局部海景房 |
porter driven transfer | 行李服务生驾车接送 |
resident and guest powder room facilities | 主客洗手间 |
same day laundry | 当日取洗衣服务 |
shower cabin featuring overhead rain shower | 配有头顶雨淋花洒的淋浴房 |
signature ballroom | 宴会厅、功能厅、主会议厅、招牌厅 |
ticket service | 代客订票服务 |
tier points | 晋级积分 |
walk-in shower | 行入式淋浴间 |
wardrobe storage | 衣帽(寄存)间 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tourism Translation?
Tourism translation is the process of converting any travel-related content from one language to another. This could be a travel brochure, map, travel guide, etc.
How Big is the Tourism Industry in China?
According to Wikipedia, China ranked second in the world for travel and tourism’s contribution to GDP in 2022 ($814.1 billion), and first in the world for travel and tourism’s contribution to employment (66,086,000 jobs in 2014).
What Are the Most Popular Destinations for Chinese Tourists?
Here’re top 10 destinations for Chinese tourists in 2019.
1. Thailand
2. Japan
3. Vietnam
4. United States
5. Malaysia
6. Singapore
7. South Korea
8. Indonesia
9. Russia
10. France
Translation Manager
Eva has 6 years of experience working as a News Editor and 5 years as a freelance copywriter. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and a master’s degree in applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne.