Jin Jiang remains Accor's biggest shareholder with 13% stake
>> French hotel giant Accor is launching a 200 million euro cost-saving plan that will see it cut 1,000 roles, while it is also considering selling the iconic Paris headquarters it purchased in 2016 for 363 million euro. Accor posted revenues of 917 million euro for the first half of 2020, down 52.4% from last year.
As of June 30, China's Jin Jiang hotel group is Accor’s leading shareholder with 13.0% of the share capital corresponding to 17.0% of voting rights. Huazhu Group holds 2.9% of Accor’s share capital and 2.2% of voting rights.
Disney reports 85% revenue decline in Parks, Experiences
>> The Walt Disney Company reported a 42% drop in revenue for the quarter ended June 27, 2020. The most significant adverse impact of USD 3.5 billion was at the Parks, Experiences and Products segment as most of Disney's theme parks and resorts were closed for the entire quarter. Revenues for this segment posted a 85% drop to USD 983 million.
Asia parks and resorts were closed for a portion of the current quarter, as Shanghai Disney Resort re-opened in May and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort re-opened in late June (Hong Kong Disneyland Resort closed again in July).
Chinese tourist attractions to slash prices to lure more visitors
>> More than 500 tourist sites in China have issued plans to cut ticket prices to attract more tourists and revive the industry that has been marred by the COVID-19 epidemic. Since July 14, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has allowed travel agencies to resume group tours that cross provincial borders, and the limit on the number of visitors allowed in tourist attractions has been set at 50% of the capacity, up from 30% previously. According to a survey by Trip.com Group, 88% of its users plan to travel to other provinces in the second half of this year, and more than 70% said they will travel to other provinces shortly.
Amadeus chatbot launches Chinese-language capabilities
>> Amadeus is launching traditional and simplified Chinese-language capabilities for its chatbot, to make it available to even more travel agents in Asia Pacific. The chatbot, named "Amanda", is the first interface from Amadeus Selling Platform Connect capable of offering real-time help to Amadeus customers. It was first launched in 2017 to bolster Amadeus’ customer service suite, and it is now available in more than 90 countries.
China’s July air passenger traffic holds up
>> China operated more flights and carried more passengers in July compared with June, although volumes were still well down from a year earlier as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect travel and jet fuel demand. China's flights carried 36.99 million passengers in July, 20.35% higher than the 30.74 million in June. But this was still 37.6% less than the 59.30 million passengers carried in July 2019, according to data from China's civil aviation administration.
Brunei, China resume direct flights with COVID-19 under control
>> Brunei resumed direct flights with Hangzhou, China on Tuesday, marking its first direct flights with the Chinese mainland after COVID-19 pandemic cut air connection between the two sides. According to travel agencies and the Chinese embassy in Brunei, the round-trip direct flights between Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei's capital, and Hangzhou will be carried out by Royal Brunei Airlines (RB), the sultanate's national carrier, with Boeing 787 or Airbus 320.
Chinese city to take stake in privately held Ruili Airlines
>> The city government of Wuxi in eastern China will take a stake in privately held Ruili Airlines, extending a trend toward growing state ownership in the country’s commercial aviation sector.
