Having surveyed more than 2,000 affluent Chinese travellers in early 2023 – after the China government lifted international travel restrictions after three years – a report offers insights into the preferences and plans of the world’s largest outbound travel market.
Marketers beware: Prior ways of marketing to Chinese consumers, including travelers, won’t work as well today because their preferences changed during the pandemic.
In the case of one hotel, the customer isn’t always right, as a resort in Thailand is taking legal action against a guest who left a negative review on a travel booking website.
Chinese consumers are progressing from merely dreaming of travel in 2022 to setting clearer travel plans, according to Dragon Trail International’s latest China Travel Market Monitor, which surveys 1,045 Chinese citizens who have had recent international travel experience.
As our industry starts to welcome early signs of recovery, at least domestically while bubble plans accelerate across the Tasman, now is a critical time for us to analyse the long-term impact on traveller booking behaviours in the wake of the pandemic.
Singapore is gradually reopening its borders again after months of coronavirus travel restrictions.
In China's post-Covid-19 tourism market, short-distance travelling and luxury holidays are leading the rebound, while tour groups and business trips are declining, according to industry players.
Hong Kong Disneyland is closing its gates again less than one month after it reopened, following a new coronavirus outbreak in the city.
Japan's Olympic delay has upended years of careful planning by organizers and spawned costly headaches for small businesses, hotels and even pro baseball teams, compounding a $12 billion price tag.
Choice Hotels Asia-Pac CEO, Trent Fraser, has encouraged the company's franchisee members to treat online travel agents as "frenemies" and to encourage guests to book future stays directly in an effort to minimise commission bills.
Speaking at the Travel Tech. Summit 2019 in Sydney last week, Tracey Foxall said it was vital for Booking.com to build the connected trip in order to stay relevant.
Singapore-based travel platform Agoda says it is focusing on finding the "best inventory" for its customers, operating with the "best tech" and fending off the intense competition in Asia armed with the "best weapons."There's a theme there.In a wide-ranging interview at WiT Singapore 2019 with WiT's founder Yeoh Siew Hoon, Agoda's CEO John Wroughton Brown, shared his thoughts on Asia, new products, forming "unorthodox" partnerships and the future.As far as Brown is concerned, the competition that his company faces in Asia is so intense that it prepares it for any battle anywhere else.And it does not need to swing a "dragon glass dagger or a light sabre" to ward off the competition amid "enemies" coming from all directions.
Mastercard has released its Global Destination Cities Index, which ranks 200 cities around the world with the most international visitors. The list is based on the card issuer's proprietary analysis of publicly available spending data and visitor numbers. The results, which include information on the most-visited cities as well as consumers' spending habits, are telling.
Accor Hotels caught the Singapore hotel industry by surprise with its latest deal with Global Premium Hotels, which operates Fragrance Hotel, a low budget brand that has a tinge of sleaze as many of its properties rent by the hour and are commonly used for sex.
Global hotel chains are going beyond kettles and congee to warm the hearts of Chinese domestic travelers, a market worth a reported $734 billion (RMB5.05 trillion) last year.
OYO launched in 2013 in India but has rapidly expanded to the U.K., China and most recently to mainland Europe through the acquisition of @Leisure. The company has also raised significant funding rounds including $1 billion led by Softbank in 2018.
The company has bowed to industry pressure and taken action independently of any government or authority edict to waive its contracted narrow-rate parity.
Called Salt, the new brand will be a sister proposition to Lux Resorts and Tamassa, with all three now siting under the newly created umbrella of The Lux Collective, overseen by chief executive Paul Jones, who has spearheaded the vision for Salt.
Considered one of the top architectural marvels of all time, the Great Wall of China draws millions of travelers to its fabled stones every year.And now, for the first time in thousands of years, it will host open-air sleepovers.Well, for a few lucky travelers anyways.Home rental website Airbnb has just launched a new contest called "Night at the Great Wall," in which four people and their guests will sleep in a custom-designed "home" set in one of the UNESCO-listed structure's towers.Judging by the photos of the set-up provided by Airbnb, the once-in-a-lifetime experience will be quite spectacular -- provided it doesn't rain.
Amsterdam-headquartered Booking is looking at India to be one of its top five markets. "India is a super important market but it also is a super tough market," said Pepijn Rivers, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Booking, while addressing a group of journalists at the company's headquarters in Amsterdam. The Booking office, located at the heart of the city's centre, stands out with its towering presence. Owned and operated by the US-based Bookings Holdings since 2005, the online travel aggregator (OTA) was founded in 1996, and merged with Bookings Online in 2000. In the last fiscal, the company reported a 38 percent operating profit, and now has its sights set on India. According to CEO Gillian Tans, India is one of the top five growth markets for the OTA giant. "India is a fast-growing market with a consumer base, which is active online and using smartphones. It is an open market where people like to travel," says Gillian.