As more Chinese become affluent, many of them become international travelers, boosting the bottom line of travel-related businesses.
In appreciation for 100 million Chinese tourists boost to Ascott Limited's revenue which jumped 36 percent year-on-year, the Singapore-based international services residence chain announced on Friday deeper access to its services. It would be done through Alitrip, the online travel service platform of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Ascott's global network of over 26,000 apartment units that operate in more than 60 cities would be available on Alitravel by June 2016. This was made possible by the signing in October 2015 of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Singapore Tourism Board and some of the leading digital and mobile service providers in China such as Alitrip, Tuniu ad Baidu.
Besides acquiring more wealth used for travel, many Chinese also became hi-tech and go online to customize their travels abroad to fit their needs instead of relying on standard tour groups made by travel agents. With that customized travel itinerary comes also a veering away from traditional hotel stays in favor of services residences such as Ascott where tourists could cook and do their own laundry.
At the same time, they enjoy more privacy in individual bedrooms and the convenience that a kitchen that comes with a spacious apartment than just an ordinary hotel room, points out Lee Chee Koon, chief executive officer of Ascott.
Just to give an example of how the travel bug has bitten a lot of Chinese, on Jan. 1, the Shanghai international airport experienced an almost 20 percent surge in outbound Chinese tourists. Tunui and LY estimate a 30 to 35 percent hike in bookings for overseas trips, while the surge in foreign bookings for Ctrip for 2016 was by 30 to 70 percent, reports CNTV.