Tencent-backed online travel firm reports 205 million users
>> Tongcheng-Elong Holdings, a Chinese online travel firm co-invested by Trip.com Group and Tencent, reported that its revenue increased by 21.4% to RMB 7,392.9 million last year. Average monthly active users increased 17.1% to 205.2 million in 2019. As of December 31, 2019, 85.6% of registered users resided in non-first-tier cities in China. For the year 2019, 62.4% of newly acquired paying users in Weixin were from tier-3 or below cities in China.
OYO sees signs of recovery in China
>> Indian hospitality startup OYO said it has started to see a recovery in bookings in China, its second-largest market, as the coronavirus outbreak eases up in some parts of the country. The comments come as a rise in imported coronavirus cases and the lifting of restrictions on movement in some cities in China have raised the prospect of a second wave of infections that could thwart the country’s economic recovery.
WTTC expects 75 million travel jobs at risk
>> Up to 75 million jobs are at immediate risk in global tourism due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council's latest projection. The organization estimated the figure at 50 million less than two weeks ago. Now the new figure shows a punishing travel & tourism GDP loss of up to USD 2.1 trillion in 2020.
Chinese hotel CEOs expect rebound by mid-Q2
>> Senior executives from Plateno Group’s Xana Hotelle, 7Days Inn and Vienna Hotel Co. believe that they have weathered the COVID-19 storm with apt financial planning, and by responding with compassion. They are also going ahead with development plans.
Hotel giant leverages equity investments to grow profit
>> Chinese hotel giant Huazhu posted an 11.4% rise in net revenue last year, but the company's same-hotel data on RevPAR, ADR and Occupancy all saw declines, dragged down by the company's soft brand performance.
Unrealized losses from fair value changes of equity securities for 2018 were RMB 914 million while gains for 2019 were RMB 316 million. This means the company's income from equity investments or holdings last year was around RMB 1.2 billion, which represents a significant part of the company's annual profit figure.
Chinese visitors to Japan plunge 87.9% in Feb over coronavirus
>> Japan's foreign visitors number dropped 58.3% in February, the largest decline for any month in nearly nine years, dented by travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. An estimated 1.09 million foreigners visited Japan last month, down from 2.60 million a year earlier, after China banned all outbound group travel in late January.
HNA Group warns of pandemic hit on overseas subsidiaries
>> Indebted Chinese conglomerate HNA Group warned of the impact from the coronavirus pandemic on its overseas subsidiaries, adding that most of them had enough cashflows to cope with the impact over the short term. Some aviation firms and hotels it owns are heavily affected, the conglomerate said in a statement.
China to bar entry to all foreigners
>> China has announced a travel ban on all foreign nationals, including those holding a work visa or residence permit. Foreigners with diplomatic, service, courtesy or C visas will reportedly not be affected by the policy, as well as those traveling to China for economic, trade, scientific, technological or humanitarian reasons.
The country’s aviation authority today told Chinese airlines to maintain only one route to any country and limit the number of flights to one per week, effective March 29. Similar rules were also set for international carriers on their flights to China.
Forward bookings for China domestic travel show dramatic rebound
>> China is seeing a significant increase in forward bookings for domestic air travel, according to a research report by travel agency Tongcheng-Elong and airline data provider Variflight.
Weekly bookings made during the February 27 to March 5 week for April flights rose by 77%, while bookings for June flights have jumped 250%, comparing with the previous week.
Chinese to resume travel to Thailand in April
>> Chinese tourists expect to resume their trips in April as new coronavirus infections subside, while Thai tourism officials aim to apply a safety and health administration program to help operators upgrade their ability to deal with the pandemic.
Chinese airlines have lost $3.1 billion this year
>> China may be recovering from the worst of its coronavirus outbreak but the gradual resumption of business has not helped domestic airlines make ends meet. This year, the country’s six listed mainland airlines had lost a combined RMB 22.3 billion (USD 3.14 billion).
