Fluffy white slippers, Feng Shui furniture and room with the number eight: The bizarre lengths Australian hotels go to in order to keep their Chinese guests happy

China's love affair with travel in Australia travel is blossoming but it comes with a price for our best hotels - which includes having to rearrange furniture and turn a blind eye to their smoking habits.

• Chinese tourists want furniture rearranged in hotel rooms to be Feng Shui
• They demand the fluffy white slippers
• Rooms with lucky number 8 are sought-after but 4 and 13 are unlucky
• Smoking rooms are requested but visitors light up even they're not in one 
• More than 840,000 Chinese tourists visit Australia
• Australia topped the list of best places to visit for the second year running 

More than 840,000 Chinese tourists arrived down under last year and many came with their own wish list.

A new study of 1500 hotels around the world found Australia came out on top – for the second year in a row – as the most desired destination for Chinese travellers in the next 12 months.

Among the quirky requests found by Hotels.com were feng shui decorated (or rearranged) rooms, lucky numbered rooms and those fluffy white slippers are an absolute must. 

Hang on, looks great but is that feng shui? Chinese tourists have been known to have furniture rearranged in their room on arrival according to a new survey

Another quirky hotel request was having fluffy white slippers on hand in the rooms

 Are we allowed to smoke in this room? Hotels.com say about 16 per cent of Chinese visitors actually request a smoking room but 'that doesn't stop them even if they are not in one'

'Lucky numbers are certainly often requested for rooms and eight is a very good number for Chinese visitors,' according to Katherine Cole, Regional Director of Hotels.com.

'Number eight is extremely lucky for prosperity and love and maybe some hotels pricing can be altered to end in an eight, that's something we can do.

'They take the numbers very seriously - for instance four is unlucky because it means death, some just don't want the fourth floor and 13 is also unlucky.

'Some hotels, particularly in Hong Kong, will miss out those floors altogether.

'And they do love the free fluffy white slippers supplied by hotels.'

High on the list too are 'smoking rooms' requested by 16 per cent of visitors.

Ms Cole says that figure should be a lot higher.

'In reality whether they get a smoking room or not, that doesn't stop them even if they are not in one,' admits Ms Cole.

The most important inclusion for Chinese tourists, by far, is Wi-Fi. 75 per cent of travellers request the internet connection.

A working kettle is also a must.

'It is not about tea or coffee making facilities, it's all about their own tea, they do bring in their own food and teas, they are well known for that so they ask for the kettle,' Ms Cole added.

High on the priority list, about 21 per cent of respondents, was for local newspapers to also be provided in Mandarin.

'18 per cent are after payment facilities for their preferred China Union pay card and most metro hotels are now offering that option,' she said.

'They are also putting on things like Chinese breakfasts, having the traditional American or European style buffet in with a Chinese section or complete separate section.'

 

 

 Some hotels' also experienced requests for room numbers, with numbers eight being a popular request and number four being an unfavoured one

Sydney and Melbourne came in first and second places in the list of top 10 cities globally that Chinese travellers say they intend to visit in the next 12 months, with a fifth of all travellers putting Sydney at the top of their list.

'This puts Australia’s two biggest cities ahead of other major global cities like Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Brisbane made it to 10th position,' she said.

Not only did Australia top the Chinese International Travel Monitor again as favoured destination but the Sydney Opera House and Queensland’s Heart Reef (Great Barrier Reef) rate among the top 20 ‘must visit’ global landmarks for Chinese travellers, ahead of New York’s Statue of Liberty and the Tower of Pisa.

Source: Daily Mail Australia, Frank Coletta, July 17^th 2015
Original article: Fluffy white slippers, Feng Shui furniture and room with the number eight: The bizarre lengths Australian hotels go to in order to keep their Chinese guests happy