Fliggy launches new measures to help overseas merchants effectively reach Chinese customers

Southeast Asian countries within a four-hour flight of major Chinese cities remain popular as international destinations

SHANGHAI, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fliggy, a leading online travel platform and arm of Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), announced that it will launch new measures providing businesses from around the world with enhanced digital capabilities to maximize growth on its platform. These developments will enable partners to tap into the massive potential of Chinese tourism in a cost effective manner.

This announcement, made at the ITB China 2023, comes on the back of a strong post-pandemic rebound in tourism benefitting providers of vacation services such as cruise packages, group travel organizers, tourist attractions, and local entertainment providers, especially if they do not already have a self-operated online platform in China. The new measures include:

• Online consulting, training courses and other services to assist merchants in the store opening process
• Full operational support for marketing and order processing available for merchants without these resources, allowing businesses to focus on order fulfilment
• Access to a range of digital tools specifically for leisure travel merchants helping them increase their operating efficiency, for example automatic updates on visa applications
• Optimized governance to help merchants better adapt to the digital business platform and subsequently enhance the customer experience

Fliggy also plans to launch additional benefits in the near future including zero-cost store-opening before the first transaction, higher levels of rebates and commissions for top-rated merchants and the arrangement of unsecured low-interest loans for small and medium-sized merchants to expand their business.

ZHAO Lei, Managing Director of Vacation Business and Vice President at Fliggy, said: "The open platform operated by Fliggy effectively matches supply and demand, creating a business environment where travel service providers of all sizes from around the world, can maximize the available opportunity by playing to their strengths. We value all our merchant partners very highly because only with a thriving ecosystem can we meet the diverse travel needs of Chinese consumers."

"Southeast Asian countries have been popular destinations for Chinese tourists thanks to their diversified tourism product offerings and relaxed lifestyle. They are also the major markets to benefit from the re-opening of China's tourism industry. We see this bringing great business opportunities for local merchants across Southeast Asia, and Fliggy will help match the demand with technological and operational support," ZHAO added.

Since China lifted its travel restrictions, the number of merchants on Fliggy has continued to grow alongside improving business performance. The average daily transaction for merchants offering overseas leisure tourism services has increased by 1.5 times this summer compared with the same period in 2019, the latest comparable travel year. At the same time, the average spend per customer has increased by more than 100% compared with pre-epidemic levels. The momentum also benfitted the official flagship stores on Fliggy of world-renowned destinations, including Universal Studios Osaka, Tokyo Disneyland, and Sentosa Island.

Embracing opportunities in China tourism

Fliggy's statistics show a sharp post-COVID recovery of overseas travel from China. According to Fliggy's 2023 Summer Travel Express report, in the summer months of June to August, orders of international tourism products increased by more than eight times year-on-year. While overseas air ticket bookings during 2023's summer season have jumped by 12 times year-on-year.

International destinations within a four-hour flight of major Chinese cities were trending this summer. Southeast Asia including Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam, as well as Japan and Korea, remained highly popular options for Chinese tourists.

The average daily transaction value of local leisure tourism services in the Maldives and Singapore on the Fliggy platform this summer has exceeded the pre-pandemic level.

In August, Disneyland Paris opened its official flagship store on Fliggy and jointly organized the "Super Brand Day" campaign that instantly became a hot topic on Weibo attracting 13,000 responses.

The go-to platform for travel businesses

As part of its effort to further develop, transform and boost the efficiency of the tourism industry, Fliggy launched the "Hello, Tomorrow" revitalization campaign in December last year, only one week after China had eased pandemic restrictions.

The campaign introduced specific measures to provide tourism merchants with strong support including lower fees, more marketing and sales initiatives, free pandemic insurance for staff and customers, and participation in government coupons and talent recruitment.

Within just three months, more than 1,000 leisure travel businesses had opened stores and commenced operation on the Fliggy platform. One in every four travel agencies in China that is qualified for outbound tourism business now has a store on Fliggy.

About Fliggy

Fliggy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA), and is one of the leading online travel platforms in China. Fliggy places a strong emphasis on innovation in its products and services, catering to the increasingly personalized and diversified needs of consumers both in China and overseas markets.

Leveraging Fliggy's advantage as part of the Alibaba ecosystem, merchants can benefit from the vast user base within the Group. Fliggy also collaborates with partners through a full-service management format, helping more merchants, especially small and medium-sized ones, easily and efficiently share opportunities enabled by digitalization.

Fliggy's long-term strategy is to promote the digital transformation of the tourism industry, using an open platform and mechanisms to help the industry make better use of the digital business infrastructure for their operations.

Media Contacts
Fliggy
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Paradigm Consulting
Helen Lam
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SOURCE Fliggy