Tag Archives: trip.com

Elaine Sun, Regional Director Middle East, Trip.com shared that the Chinese outbound tourists are projected to reach 130 million this year and in terms of the MENA region it has already surpassed 100% in terms of outbound flight and hotel growth. In her presentation, she revealed that according to the global market review international tourism reached 97% of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2024. Middle East with 136% followed by Africa with 105% and Europe with 101% while Americas was 100% and APAC at 82%.

The China Visitors Summit announced that Elaine Sun, Regional Director for Trip.com Middle East, will be the Keynote Speaker at the opening session of the CVS, China Visitors Summit – Middle East. Elaine has been managing Middle East destinations and regional chain relationships at Trip.com since 2019. She has previously worked with international hotel chains such as IHG and Hilton. Holding a master’s degree in digital marketing and over ten years of experience in roles related to the China market, Elaine brings a wealth of expertise to the summit.  

Speaking on the current trends of the Chinese outbound travellers, Xiong Xing, COO of Trip.com Group speaking on the topic, “Insights into the 2024, civil aviation market.” He introduced the data from Trip.com’s FlightAI market insight platform, which shows that as of 19 May, China’s cross-border flight capacity has recovered to 71% in 2024 compared to the same period in 2019, while the outbound travel search index for 2024 has risen by 63% compared to 2019, with travellers experiencing high demand for travel. “The concentrated release of travellers’ demand for travel has accelerated the pace of the industry’s recovery, and the hotly heated cross-border market is also showing new changes and trends.” Xiong Xing said. Although post-80s and post-90s travellers accounted for 53% of outbound travellers, post-2000s travellers have become the group with the fastest increase in share. From the perspective of travelling groups, parent-child family users are the absolute main force of summer outbound travel. In addition, the continuous growth of silver-haired travellers also injected new vitality into the travel market. It is worth noting that, under the strong recovery of outbound tourism, inbound tourism is also accelerating the recovery trend with the help of visa-free policy. Xiong Xing introduced that among inbound travellers in 2024, the orders of travellers from countries with mutual visa exemption for ordinary passports will grow the fastest compared to 2019.

At the China Global Traveller Market update and seminar Elaine Sun, Regional Director MEA, Trip.com shared that there are 3 most important factors to drive in Chinese inbound visitors; focus on content, service and dynamic offerings. She reiterated that hotels should first focus on getting their content to showcase their USP by showcasing the property with 5 to 10 second short videos and good images to draw the interest of the Chinese travellers. When it comes to service, there should be fact sheets and other material translated and shared with Chinese elements such as wechat, alipay so that there is a purpose to select the hotel as against others as it shows that the hotel would take an interest in accommodating Chinese travellers. The last point mentioned was the tailormade and bespoke experiences on offer, early bird deals, amenities, offerings such as early check-in and late checkouts as flight timings are different to provide that feeling you are welcomed in the hotel is most important to the Chinese travellers.

Almosafer and Trip.com Group are expanding collaborations to pioneer unique holistic travel experiences for tourists and visitors to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and make the destination more accessible to global markets. The collaboration aims at enhancing inbound travel by promoting the Kingdom as a top-tier travel destination in the region. The collaboration will also fortify corporate travel across the Middle East and boost inbound tourism from Asian markets. Leveraging the comprehensive range of travel services offered by Almosafer, together with the global reach and cutting-edge technology and data aggregation abilities of Trip.com Group, both industry giants will open exciting opportunities for travellers and strengthen the tourism landscape of Saudi Arabia. Building on Almosafer’s regional expertise and deep understanding of the needs and preferences of visitors in the region and beyond, Trip.com Group will increase visibility of the immersive and enriching tourism experiences in Saudi Arabia across its data-led and technology-driven platforms. Muzzammil Ahussain, CEO, Almosafer, said: “As Saudi Arabia’s leading travel company, Almosafer remains committed to bring guests and visitors seamless travel experiences and support them in making informed decisions to easily access the Kingdom’s unique attractions. In line with our digital first approach, we are excited to expand cooperation with Trip.com Group to further this goal and support the ambitious tourism mandate of Saudi Vision 2030. The partnership will give Saudi Arabia higher visibility in both regional and global markets and together, we aim to elevate Saudi Arabia as a captivating destination for all age groups and interests.” Boon Sian Chai, Managing Director and Vice President of International Markets at Trip.com Group, said: “We are excited to increase cooperation with Almosafer, to attract tourists to the beautiful destination of …

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has signed a strategic partnership with Trip.com Group, a leading global travel service provider, in an online ceremony at Arabian Travel Market. The partnership’s social and economic initiatives will encourage and entice visitors worldwide to visit Abu Dhabi, promoting the UAE capital as a top-tier travel destination in 13 markets across Asia and Europe, including in India, China, South Korea, Japan, USA, UK, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The partnership marks the first time DCT Abu Dhabi has engaged Trip.com Group as a whole, rather than with its various singular entities, increasing consistent visibility across its five popular business and consumer global travel platforms. Over a period of 12 months, Trip.com Group’s primary focus is to achieve 57,000 room nights in Abu Dhabi through marketing on its five portfolio channels. These B2B and B2C subsidiaries include Trip.com, a global travel service provider with an extensive hotel and flight route network; Skyscanner, the world leader in global flight meta-search; Travix, a global OTA operating in 39 countries; Ctrip and MakeMyTrip. HE Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry, Director General for Tourism at DCT Abu Dhabi said “We are very pleased to announce our global agreement with Trip.com Group, a partnership that will share Abu Dhabi’s story with international visitors – beginning with the summer season and beyond. Through strategic partnerships such as this and our ever-expanding tourism and culture offering, we are further elevating Abu Dhabi as a top-of-mind destination, providing travellers around the world with diverse, immersive and enriching experiences to discover at their own pace.” Jane Sun, Chief Executive Officer at Trip.com Group said “We are pleased to announce, …