TTNQ Chair Max Shepherd and Tuniu.com CEO Donald Yu signed a memorandum of cooperation to work together as the first step to achieve a stronger position for Cairns & Great Barrier Reef in the growing online travel platform in China. The agreement was a culmination of ongoing discussions undertaken by TTNQ’s Eastern Sales and Marketing Manager Joyce Yang.
Tuniu.com is a major online travel agent in China which handled 5.3 million trips in the first nine months of 2016 with 64% of those bookings for overseas leisure travel. Organised tours account for 41% of the company’s business and 59% of bookings are for self-guided tours and tickets to more than 1000 domestic and overseas tourist attractions.
The Cairns & Great Barrier Reef region was represented by the CAPTA Group, Hartleys Crocodile Adventures, Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, GSL Aviation and Big Cat Green Island Cruises at the signing in Nanjing, China, on March 20.
TTNQ and regional operators will continue to retain and further develop strong relationships with the traditional travel booking industry which has been supporting TNQ over many years. As part of the agreement, TTNQ will be working to bring group and independent traveller product managers from Tuniu.com to Cairns & Great Barrier Reef to meet operators and become familiar with the experiences the destination offers.
(Full article from Industry Opportunities & News – 29 March 2017)