Foreign online travel agencies are now targeting the Chinese market

With the market of Chinese outbound tourism continually growing, the online travel agencies in China are experiencing a rapid growth. These OTAs are capable of providing customized services for their customers as well as making the booking process more convenient. Now, foreign OTAs are also targeting the booming Chinese market, featuring their advantages in arranging trips abroad.

In January, Agoda entered formally the Chinese market. Agoda is part of Priceline, which is the biggest online travel company worldwide. The debut of the company was marked by its characteristic “landdiving” commercial on Wechat, which is the new travel concept introduced by Agoda.

Meanwhile, Booking was also organizing marketing activities in Shanghai. This indicates that foreign online travel agencies are now turning their eyes onto the Chinese market and trying to take a share out of the indigenous travel agencies.

According to the China Tourism Academy, there will be 133 million Chinese tourists travelling overseas in 2016, which is an 11.5% increase from last year.  Most of these tourists are still taking package tours. However, the tendency of individual travelling is on increase. More travelers prefer to organize their own trips and choose the services which appeal to them. This would provide huge opportunities for foreign travel agencies as they are more proficient with the tourism markets in foreign countries.

For now, Agoda is still a relatively small brand in China. But with their new concept of “landdiving”, they are trying to give their Chinese customers new impressions about travelling.

Source: Sohu

Photo: flickr