This week, the Chinese embassy in Washington issued a safety warning to Chinese citizens living in the US amid increased security risks there following the killing of Iran’s top military commander major general Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.
Meanwhile, major Chinese airlines including China Southern Airlines decided to cancel direct flights to Iran or re-route other flights to avoid the airspaces of Iran and Iraq.
Read more:
China issues travel safety warning amid US-Iran tensions
Chinese airlines cancel, re-route flights around Iran
Zhejiang New Century Hotel, a Hong Kong-listed firm backed by Trip.com Group (Ctrip) and GreenTree Hospitality, announced that it has established a joint venture management company with two local companies to engage in new commercial space and other non-residential hotel value-added extension business.
Zhejiang New Century Hotel is a mid-scale to upscale hotel operation and management company in mainland China. As of December 31, 2018, it operated and/or managed 150 hotels with over 34,000 hotel rooms in 22 provinces and regions. Its revenue increased 8.3% to RMB 905.2 million in the first half of 2019. EBITDA rose 136.9% to RMB 319.3 million.
Read more:
Trip.com Group-backed hotel firm explores non-residential hotel values
New Century Hotel revenue rose 8.3% to RMB 905.2 million in H1 2019
Qunar.com CEO Gang Chen recently indicated in an internal letter that the company did not rule out an independent initial public offering and further funding in the future. The company went public in 2013 but delisted its ADSs on NASDAQ four years later and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ctrip-affiliated Ocean Management.
Read more:
Qunar.com CEO not ruling out independent IPO
Qunar exits from NASDAQ
A new research by Agoda revealed that Single apps for all travel needs, passport-free travel, and mobile app check-in are the top three ‘new travel norms’ expected by travelers in the next decade.
Kyoto tops the travel wish list for Chinese travelers in the 2020s. This is followed by Shanghai and then Bangkok. 43% of Chinese travelers want to explore more of their own country in the coming decade, while 38% want to travel more internationally.
Read more: Agoda research reveals travel trend expectations for 2020s
For the past year of 2019, China's civil aviation industry operated 660 million passenger trips, up 7.9% year on year. Border inspection agencies across China saw 670 million entry and exit trips last year, an increase of 3.8% from the previous year, figures from the National Immigration Administration have shown.
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China's civil aviation sector grows 7.9% in 2019
China sees 670 million cross-border trips in 2019
Australia may be banking on attracting British tourists weary of Brexit with a playful new advertising campaign featuring pop singer Kylie Minogue, but experts say the lucrative Chinese market remains the one to watch for its massive untapped potential.
British visitors to Australia fell 4% to 714,000 arrivals over the 12-month period ending last October, while 1.4 million Chinese tourists visited Australia in the year up to July, making China by far the biggest market in terms of both arrivals and money spent.
Read more: To lure Chinese tourists, Australia needs to get Kylie out of head
Chinese state-run card payment network UnionPay has attracted 28.5 million merchants outside of mainland China.
By gaining support internationally, UnionPay will attract transactions made by Chinese tourists and will also build loyalty. As per the analysis of Nielson Holdings, 2018 witnessed Chinese tourists making 140 million outbound trips, up 13.5%. In 2019, the average annual spend per person when traveling was estimated to rise to $6,706.
Read more: Flourishing tourism from China benefits merchants supporting UnionPay
Hong Kong's tourist arrivals were estimated to drop about 14% in 2019, with the number of visitors to the former British colony standing at 56 million for the entire year.
The tourism sector in Hong Kong took the major blow of prolonged social unrest in the second half of 2019 as escalated violent incidents seriously disrupted transport and scared off visitors.
