Fliggy wants to help overseas travel companies market to Chinese tourists

Fliggy, the online travel platform that is a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, is adding new tools and services to help businesses from around the world attract Chinese customers.

Among the new measures, Fliggy is offering online consulting, training courses and other services to help merchants open stores on the digital platform, followed by marketing and order processing support once those stores are operational. 

For leisure travel sellers, Fliggy is giving access to digital tools such as automatic updates on visa applications. 

The company said the developments are intended to enable partners – such as packaged travel providers, group travel organizers, tourist attractions and entertainment providers - “to tap into the massive potential of Chinese tourism in a cost-effective manner.”

"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,” said Zhao Lei, managing director of vacation business and vice president at Fliggy.

“We value all our merchant partners very highly because only with a thriving ecosystem can we meet the diverse travel needs of Chinese consumers."

Fliggy said that since China lifted its travel restrictions earlier this year, the number of merchants on its platform has continued to grow and, compared with 2019, the average daily transaction for merchants offering overseas leisure tourism services has increased by 1.5 times this summer, and the average spend per customer has more than doubled. 

A key region for Fliggy is Southeast Asia, where many destinations are within a four-hour flight of major Chinese cities.

"Southeast Asian countries have been popular destinations for Chinese tourists thanks to their diversified tourism product offerings and relaxed lifestyle,” Zhao said.

“They are also the major markets to benefit from the reopening 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.”

Fliggy said it will also add more benefits in the near future such as no store opening fees before the first transaction, higher levels of rebates and commissions for top-rated merchants and the offer of unsecured low-interest loans for merchants to expand their stores.