China's sharing accommodation suffers a 72.1% decline
China's home-sharing market has seen a 36.4% year-on-year rise in transaction volume to RMB 22.5 billion (USD 3.21 billion) last year, according to a report of the State Information Center. Major accommodation sharing platforms had raised about RMB 150 million (USD 21.4 million) in 2019, down by 95.5% year-on-year. From January to May 2020, the transaction volume decreased 72.1% year on year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Passengers need negative test certificate before flying to China
Passengers traveling by plane to China must show a negative COVID-19 test result before they board a plane, according to a statement issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. "Chinese and foreign passengers on flights to China shall complete nucleic acid testing within 5 days before boarding," the authority said on July 20. "Testing should be carried out in institutions designated or approved by Chinese embassies abroad."
China records 150 million air passengers in the first half of 2020
Air passenger throughput in China continued to recover in the first half of this year, said Shijie Wu, deputy director of Security Office in Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). In the first six months of 2020, total passenger throughput was about 150 million in China, among which 140 million passengers traveled on domestic flights and 8.52 million flew international flights, representing 48.6% and 23.5% respectively of the level in the same period of last year.
Trip.com chairman expects full recovery of China's domestic travel in months
With the coronavirus under control in China, the recent restoration of cross-province group tours, and the arrival of summer holiday peak season, Trip.com Group chairman Mr. James Liang told CNBC that he expects the country's domestic tourism to fully recover in the next few months. Mr. Liang said in the next quarter or two corporate travel bookings will still be dominated by individual travelers.
Trip.com collaborates with Malaysia Airlines on loyalty program
Trip.com, a China-headquartered international online travel service provider with over 1.4 million properties in more than 200 countries and regions, announced a partnership with Malaysia Airlines’ frequent flyer programme, Enrich, which will maximize rewards for its members when making hotel reservations on the platform.
Trip.com targets rise in traveling by rail with Eurostar campaign
Chinese OTA Trip.com has launched sales of Eurostar tickets on its website. The retailer is marking the launch with a summer sale offering holidaymakers discounts on journeys across the English Channel. In addition to a 5% discount on Eurostar services to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam, Trip.com is also offering 4% off UK rail tickets with no booking fees.
Alibaba invests in cross-border fintech firm Airwallex
Airwallex, a cross-border payment solution provider, announced that it has closed a Series D+ fundraising round backed by Alibaba's Entrepreneurs Fund. Airwallex said the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund will accelerate the company’s expansion of products, service scale and ecosystem, especially business growth in the Greater China region.
Marriott sees Greater China occupancy returning by 2021
Hotel group Marriott said it expects room occupancy rates in Greater China to rise to 60% next month and forecasts it could recover to pre-coronavirus levels by the start of 2021, as domestic travel in the country ticks up. While the pandemic had delayed some of its hotel openings, it expected to open 70 to 80 hotels in the Asia Pacific this year.
Hotel giant Huazhu announces changes in the board room
Chinese hotel chain Huazhu announced the changes in the company's board room: senior tax expert Ms. Lei Cao, and advocate and solicitor Mr. Theng Fong Hee were newly appointed as directors of Huazhu’s board of directors, while Ms. Xiaofan Wang, CFO of Trip.com Group, will no longer serve as a director of the Board and will serve as a board observer going forward. Both Ms. Cao and Mr. Hee have extensive experience in Singapore, which is the international headquarters of Huazhu.
The 2020 Digital Travel Awards opened for submission
TravelDaily has kick-started submission for the 2020 Digital Travel Awards, an annual event aiming at recognizing the novel and creative marketing ideas and the innovative products in the travel space. Entries submission starts on July 23, ends on September 15.
Asia Pacific theme parks thrive with dramatic rises in China
Disney continues to lead the world's theme parks with nearly 156 million visitors last year as a group, according to the latest TEA/AECOM 2019 Theme Index and Museum Index report. Chinese theme park operator OCT Parks China ranked the third in the global theme park group list after receiving almost 54 million visitors in 2019, trailing behind Disney and Merlin Entertainment. The average attendance growth rate for the top 10 theme park groups in the past year was 4%, while the China-based Fantawild Group alone registered the highest increase of 19.8%.
China’s Top 50 Hospitality Groups Report 2020
Jin Jiang International, with 8,606 properties and 873,177 rooms, was ranked the top hospitality group in China, followed by Huazhu Group and BTG Homeinns Hotels, which had 536,876 rooms and 414,952 rooms respectively, according to the China TOP 50 Hospitality Groups Report 2020 jointly released by China Hospitality Association and its partner organizations.
More foreign carriers resume service to Shanghai
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines resumed passenger flights from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Shanghai following the relaxation of travel restrictions by the Chinese government. Apart from KLM, other foreign carriers such as Air New Zealand, Delta, United Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Swissair, Aeroflot and Turkish Airlines have also resumed flights to Shanghai.
Airlines IT provider TravelSky expects half-year profit to drop by 120%
Chinese airline IT giant TravelSky said the company's profit after taxation for the first half of the year may drop by 120% from last year. The total volume processed by international and regional commercial airlines is expected to drop by 90.47% in the first six months of 2020.
Chinese "Big Three" airlines warn of first-half earnings hit despite traffic recovery
China’s three largest state-owned carriers have reiterated warnings that their first-half financial results will take a hit from the coronavirus outbreak, even as its June passenger traffic continued to improve month on month. In similarly-worded impact statements released together with its monthly traffic results, Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines flagged the uncertainty still surrounding the global air transport industry.
