6 TRADE TALK MARRIOTT
6 TRADE TALK MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL “ELEVATES TRAVEL EXPERIENCE FOR CHINESE CONSUMERS” WITH ENHANCED MOBILE FUNCTIONALITY AND GLOBAL WALLET-FREE TRAVEL Following the recent launch of the Marriott storefront on Alibaba’s travel service platform, Fliggy, a new initiative sees Post Post Pay, Fliggy’s innovative hotel reservation service, allowing qualified users to travel first and pay after their stay. Marriott announced its redesigned storefront on Fliggy, Alibaba’s travel service platform, and the rollout of Post Post Pay (PPP) functionality across more than 1,000 Marriott hotels globally last month. Through the digital solutions, Marriott International claims to “elevates both the online and offline travel experience for Chinese consumers”. As part of Marriott’s first phase of service enhancements, its new storefront on Fliggy (marriottcn.fliggy.com) launched in April 2018, will feature approximately 6,000 hotels from across Marriott International’s global inventory of 30 brands, presented in a Chinese travellerfriendly layout. Through the storefront, Fliggy’s innovative PPP functionality will be offered to qualified Fliggy users at more than 1,000 hotels globally, including more than 270 hotels in the Greater China region, where the service is already available, and in highdemand locations throughout the Asia Pacific region, such as Australia, Japan, the Maldives, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. To complement these enhancements, Marriott expects to certify over 1,000 hotels globally in its “Li Yu” program, designed to provide travellers from China a warm welcome and the comforts of home anywhere in the world they may go Some 800 buyers have been invited to attend ITB China this year. This includes 600 top performers from last year and hundreds of new ones, whereas over 250 will represent China’s largest travel agencies. Hosted buyers represent the Chinese Leisure, MICE and Corporate travel markets: 97% of the hosted buyers come from Mainland China and 3% are from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. ITB China has been designed as a pure B2B platform, professionally matchmaking exhibitors from all over the world with Chinese buyers. More than 15,000 prescheduled appointments will maximise the business opportunities of both the exhibitors and the buyers. Leading Chinese travel industry companies including Caissa, Fliggy, Tuniu, Utour Travel and many others have confirmed they will be sending their buyers to the second edition of ITB China Preview Event 2018 Buyers’ Programme: Around 800 Invited to Attend 2018 Event ITB China next week. David Axiotis, General Manager ITB China: “ITB China not only brings top Chinese travel buyers together with world-class tourism suppliers, but also with innovative technological applications. In 2018, we are increasing our buyers program by inviting some 850 buyers whereas our focus is making sure that the quality and quantity of buyers meets demanding exhibitor needs” Rungang Zhang Secretary General & Vice President, China Tourism Association ITB China Strengthens Partnership with China Tourism Association (CTA) The strategic partnership forged between ITB China and the China Tourism Association has been extended this year, enabling access for exhibitors to a massive base of buyers in this region. David Axiotis, General Manager of ITB China and Rungang Zhang, Secretary General & Vice President China Tourism Association, signed the extended partnership agreement in November 2017. The China Tourism Association, founded in 1986, is the largest industry association for China’s travel and tourism industry with its 4,000 members covering the major travel verticals including hotels, destinations, OTAs, TMCs, tour operators, sharing accommodations, hostels, travel media, education institutions, travel research agencies & leisure travel. CTA’s involvement in ITB China will include numerous marketing and promotional activities. Rungang Zhang, Secretary General & Vice President CTA, China Tourism Association: “CTA is the biggest travel and tourism industry association of the world’s second largest economy and we are very delighted to again work with ITB China, in order to boost industry cooperation and communication between China and the rest of the world. With ITB’s global vision, its high-class exhibitors and high-standard exhibition experience, travel companies in China will have access to diversified travel products and will be able to provide superb travel experiences for Chinese travellers” ITB CHINA NEWS • Wednesday 9 th May 2018 www.itb-china-news.com
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 7 WE WILL HAVE AN INCREASE OF MORE THAN 30% IN THE NUMBER OF BUYERS AT THIS YEAR’S SHOW COMPARED TO 2017 David Axiotis General Manager, ITB China ITB China: Major Growth for 2 nd Edition Exclusive Interview: David Axiotis, General Manager, ITB China At this year’s ITB China, exhibitor demand is way above the level of last year, with a 50% increase of the gross exhibition area. ITB China is fully booked out with over 700 exhibitors from 80 countries presenting themselves to 15,000 attendees. In addition to established exhibitors from last year, the organisers have been able to secure many newcomers. We asked David Axiotis, General Manager, ITB China what else is “new” this year. We extended our hosted buyer programme this year. With around 800 buyers we will have an increase of more than 30% in the number of buyers at this year’s show compared to 2017. This year’s partner destination is Finland and ITB China 2018 is an official partner event of the EU China Tourism Year. Hotel industry giant, Wyndham Hotel Group has become the official partner hotel of the second edition of ITB China. We also bring up two strategic partnerships with The China Tourism Academy and the China Tourism Association to enhance business opportunities and raise global awareness for the Chinese tourism industry. The ITB China Market Introduction Programme makes its debut at ITB China this year. The newly launched programme is planned for international travel industry professionals who have no or little experience with the Chinese travel market so far. ITB China Conference will offer everyone working in the business travel market an ideal platform for training and networking at the new Business Travel Day. The last day of the ITB China Conference will be dedicated to the Education & Job Day in partnership with Fudan University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI). Qyer and ITB China will co-organise the It’s My World Travel Awards 2018, honouring Chinese key opinion leaders as well as global destinations at this year’s show. What will be the highlights of the ITB China Conference this year? The exhibition is flanked by a strong conference programme with 120 top speakers informing about the latest developments in China. This think tank of Chinese travel will provide up-to-date key insights of these seven areas: ‘Destination’, ‘Travel Tech’, ‘Corporate Travel & MICE’, ‘Online Travel’, and - for the first time - ‘Customised Travel’, ‘Business Travel’ and ‘Education & Job’. The conference kicks off with the opening keynote speech by James Liang, Chairman of Ctrip. In addition, other top companies such as CITS American Express Global Business Travel, Carlson Wagonlit Travel and BCD Travel, Merlin Entertainments, Mafengwo, Lushu, Abercrombie & Kent will provide exciting insights into their expanding markets. One highlight will be the ITB China Startup Award that takes place for the second time and which acknowledges outstanding new products and services that were introduced less than two years ago and which anticipate major market potential. The innovations are vetted by the ITB China jury based on the uniqueness of the underlying innovation. The Pitch and the Award Ceremony will take place on 17 May 2018 from 3 to 4.30 pm in the Conference Area. As official partner of EU-China Tourism year, what will be the impact of this? ITB China is the prefect marketplace to showcase Europe’s unique and diverse natural and cultural heritage and to promote mutual exchanges between Europe and China. The ECTY will enhance the visibility of the European countries as appealing travel destinations in Greater China. Please tell us a little more about this year’s partner destination. Finland appeals to travellers searching for unique experiences in their destinations as well as convenience and has proven that it is attaching a great importance in enhancing Chinese tourists’ travel experience. Finland is running a multitude of visa centers in China, working on e-visa solutions for Chinese tourists and has opened up for Chinese mobile payments systems adding a lot of convenience for Chinese visiting Finland. Its spectacular natural wonders, the summer cottages, the numerous lakes, saunas and thousands of islands and the land covered by forests attract travellers from all over the world. Visitors to Finland love the friendly and easy-going lifestyle of the country and the unique combination of sophisticated urban living and incredible natural beauty ITB CHINA NEWS • Wednesday 9 th May 2018
