Hotelbeds: potential for China market “vast and almost unimaginable”

Hotelbeds Group, has announced today – at the ITB Asia event taking place in Singapore – outstanding growth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region during the 2016/17.

The brand, which is focused on the wholesaler, registered 20% year-on-year growth in room nights booked from the APAC source market.

Additionally during this period China was the top source market for the second year running, within APAC, with 46% growth in room nights. Other popular Asian source markets are India, South Korea, Indonesia and Australia

Meanwhile top APAC destinations booked via Hotelbeds platform globally were Bangkok followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, Phuket, Kuala Lumpur and Bali.

This news shows that China has emerged as one of the key strategic markets for the group in APAC, becoming the 5th biggest source market, up from 22nd place only five years ago.

Sam Turner, sales director at Hotelbeds Group, said: “The potential for the Chinese travel source market – both domestic and international – is vast and almost unimaginable. China has the world’s largest population with a rapidly expanding middle-class and they are all looking for travel experiences.

“This explosion of Chinese travellers worldwide requires both travel providers and travel sellers to adapt their offering to the needs, preference and desires of the Chinese market. To do so, it is not only about adapting the booking process but also the whole cycle of payment, check-in, visa processes, social media platforms, and so on – and that´s why we´re focusing hard on making sure we have the best and most relevant technology for the market.

“The strong APAC presence and local knowledge of GTA – who have recently joined our Group – will also boost us further in this key strategic market in order to lead the bedbank niche in the APAC region.” He added.

Andy Tan, sales director for Asia-Pacific, at Hotelbeds commented: “Once again we are attending ITB Asia and this edition is especially relevant for us as once again we´ve been awarded Best Online Travel Wholesaler at the Travel Weekly Asia 2017 Readers’ Choice Awards and Best Travel Wholesale Solution at the 10th TravelMole – ITB Asia Awards 2017. We are most grateful to all those who voted, this is the best motivation for us to keep innovating and improving our product offering in the local market.

“Our success story in the APAC region – registering a 20% year-on-year growth in room nights as a source market – is the result of the strong relationships with client partners that are defined by co-creation and collaboration, as well as our commitment both to gaining local knowledge and building strong teams in the APAC region. Moreover, the investment in best-in-class technology and the use of data and analytics haves also emerged as key drivers of our success in the region during the last year.”