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Author | Gongsun Yao, Zhou Yi Shui

Editor-in-chief | Yang Ming

Editor | Jing Xiangyuan

Source | Yishui Cultural Tourism

Recently, the bottled water advertisements launched by Wahaha in collaboration with Guangxi's cultural tourism industry have sparked considerable discussion on social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin.

Wahaha Group has joined hands with the Guangxi Tourism Association for brand collaboration. Wahaha prints photos of Guangxi's famous scenic spots on its bottled water, using the bottles as a medium to promote Guangxi tourism. Previously, this "customized water" exclusively for Guangxi users was recently distributed across provinces, entering supermarkets in Guangdong, Hainan, Hunan, and other provinces and cities. With netizens from various places "showing off" the pictures, some tourist attractions in Guangxi have "gone viral" and gained popularity.

In fact, in recent years, Zong Qinghou, at the helm of Wahaha, has been actively exploring diversified operations, particularly showcasing its ambition in the cultural tourism sector.

Back in 2012, Zong Qinghou, chairman of Wahaha, stated in a media interview that Wahaha's next expansion target might be the tourism industry, with many opportunities to explore. For example, many scenic spots in some areas are still in their original state, with great development potential and relatively low costs, making them suitable for development as high-end holiday destinations. During his tenure as a national people's congress representative, Zong Qinghou also submitted numerous proposals related to tourism.

Zong Fuli, taking over the reins, continues to write the tourism chapter.

Returning to the "bottle marketing" approach, providing brand and channel value to tourism

On May 28, 2024, 600 million bottles of mineral water featuring 60 scenic spots in Guangxi were sold across provinces for the first time. Many netizens from Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan, Hunan, and other places showcased this batch of drinking water on various platforms, sparking online discussions once again.

It is understood that on April 10, 2024, the Guangxi Tourism Association and Hangzhou Wahaha Group renewed their cooperation agreement on bottle-based public service advertisements, increasing the publicity efforts for Guangxi's tourism resources. The number of scenic spots promoted has expanded from the original 16 to 60, continuing to help Guangxi's cultural tourism industry "break through the screen and gain popularity." For Wahaha, its successful entry into over 350 4A-level and above tourist attractions in Guangxi has further broadened its sales channels.

A veteran industry insider revealed that Wahaha's layout in Guangxi tourism goes far beyond this. Wahaha will also participate in more events organized by the Guangxi Tourism Association, providing services while showcasing its brand; it will print a "One-Click Tour of Guangxi" QR code on Wahaha bottles, allowing consumers to scan for discounts on scenic spots and tourism performances; it will transform the Guilin Wahaha production base into a research and study tourism base, organizing local students to participate in research and study activities; and both parties will jointly organize various cultural tourism events to strengthen brand marketing, and so on.

With this combination of strategies, Wahaha will further penetrate the Guangxi cultural tourism industry, and the situation of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation between the two parties will further unfold.

In fact, based on Wahaha's national popularity and deeply ingrained IP image, as well as the admiration many Chinese people have for the legendary entrepreneur Zong Qinghou, Wahaha's efforts in tourism marketing scenarios often achieve twice the result with half the effort.

This February, Zong Qinghou passed away due to illness. In March, Qinglongxia Scenic Area in Xiuwu County, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province, issued an announcement stating that visitors carrying Wahaha products would enjoy free admission throughout the year. People in the tourism industry are very sensitive to the dynamics of public opinion, especially to things with widespread acclaim, and are willing to make emotional connections.

"Independent Operation": Leveraging its own strengths

In recent years, Wahaha has been exploring how to leverage its own strengths to enter the tourism sector.

It can be traced back to 20 years ago. In 2004, Wahaha's industrial tourism project was launched at its Hangzhou Xiasha base, with the initial aim of bridging the gap with consumers and enhancing the company's reputation. Later, it was discovered that tourism flow was a good thing, and the project was later rated as a "National Industrial Tourism Demonstration Point".

Currently, Wahaha's newly added smart factory park is open to tourists, offering a range of industrial tourism, research and study tourism, and family tourism products, with positive market feedback.

As Zong Qinghou mentioned in an interview during the National People's Congress—"The tourism concept of the Chinese people has changed. In the past, people traveled to see more of the world, but now they want to find a place to rest and relax. The future development of tourism is a very promising industry."

With this strategic understanding, Wahaha resolutely ventured into the leisure and resort field. In December 2017, Wahaha registered and established Wahaha Hotel Management Co., Ltd.

A year later, in November 2018, Hangzhou Wahaha Resort Hotel officially opened. Located in Hangzhou Xiang Lake Scenic Area, it is the first resort hotel under Wahaha Hotel Management Co., Ltd., integrating dining, accommodation, and conferencing functions. It boasts a serene environment and a strong leisure atmosphere. After its opening, the hotel's sales and reputation were excellent, with many young tourists actively sharing their fun experiences of staying at the hotel and drinking Wahaha beverages on social media platforms, resulting in full occupancy for a long period.

At that time, the relevant person in charge of Wahaha Resort Hotel also outlined a blueprint for the hotel's development: positioning itself as a tourism resort area, cooperating with multiple 5A-level scenic spots nationwide and well-known domestic and international cultural tourism groups, showcasing Wahaha's cultural theme, using a franchise model to build a chain brand, accelerating its layout in urban areas and areas with high passenger traffic, radiating to the surrounding areas of Hangzhou, starting from Xiang Lake, and strengthening the cultural tourism sector.

Later, the promotion of franchising did not yield good results, but it provided Wahaha with valuable experience.

"Joint Efforts": Collaborating with industry leaders

Unable to realize its chain dream by operating hotels independently, Wahaha decided to join forces with industry leaders.

In December 2020, Wahaha Hotel Management Company and Kaiyuan Hotel Group held a cooperation signing ceremony in Hangzhou at Xiang Lake. At that time, Wahaha Xiang Lake Resort Hotel was officially renamed Wahaha Kaiyuan Xiang Lake Resort Hotel, seemingly preparing to make strides in the resort sector. According to the agreement, Kaiyuan Hotel Group "would fully integrate its resource advantages, brand advantages, and service advantages into the Wahaha Kaiyuan Xiang Lake Resort Hotel, creating a model hotel in the Xiang Lake National Tourism Resort." However, due to various reasons, this cooperation with the hotel "bigwig" was not smooth, and the hotel quietly reverted to "Wahaha Xiang Lake Resort Hotel".

Wahaha's cooperation with Ctrip, however, has yielded good results. In October 2023, Wahaha Group joined hands with Ctrip's Lisheng Group and LvYue Group to jointly create "咖位 themed rooms", setting up photo walls, pillows, and other items strongly associated with Wahaha's beverage brand "咖位" in partner hotels. Each consumer also received a free "咖位" latte. This activity covered 100 hotels in 13 cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Hefei. This cooperation is an innovative attempt by Wahaha to collaborate with the OTA "bigwig" Ctrip. Both parties have a high degree of matching in terms of brand fit and target audience, and the market response has been good.

A Wahaha insider revealed that during Zong Qinghou's tenure, there were even discussions about developing tourism real estate projects in Madagascar, an overseas tourist destination. Zong personally went to investigate. Besides the strength and resources of the Madagascar Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, he personally was very optimistic about the tourism industry. Currently, Wahaha is re-examining its diversified layout, possibly cutting what needs to be cut, keeping what needs to be kept, and expanding what needs to be expanded. "Some marketing managers under the group still follow the judgment of the old man, believing that the tourism sector is worth further development, following the path of large-scale leisure. As far as I know, they have also reflected this opinion, and it remains to be seen how determined the decision-makers will be in the end."