Travel Technology
prnewswire | July 06, 2023
Trip.com Group, a leading travel service provider and Tourism New Zealand, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to promote New Zealand as a key tourism destination in Asia Pacific.
Trip.com Group's Vice President of Destination Marketing & Strategy Alliances, Edison Chen, and Tourism New Zealand's Board Chairman, Jamie Tuuta, in the presence of New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, signed the MOU. The Prime Minister is currently on a working visit to China.
As part of the collaboration, both parties will launch a series of joint marketing campaigns to attract tourists from Asia Pacific to New Zealand. The markets include the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Australia. This will involve the creation of appealing and attractive travel itineraries and experiences to meet specific visitor needs, positioning New Zealand as a destination of choice for travellers.
This partnership marks the first Asia Pacific pan-regional collaboration for both sides.
Edison Chen, Vice President of Destination Marketing & Strategy Alliances, at Trip.com Group said, "With the reopening of China's border, we have seen a marked increase in outbound travel-related bookings and searches in the recent months. We look forward to collaborating with Tourism New Zealand to leverage our resources and deep data insights to boost New Zealand tourism development, fully optimising the travel experience for tourists in New Zealand."
"With the resurgence of international travel post-pandemic, this collaboration could not be better for both parties involved."
Data from Trip.com Group's Ctrip and Trip.com platforms show a keen interest in travel in Asia Pacific, including New Zealand.
Specifically, searches for flights to New Zealand have seen a significant increase of nearly 560% year-on-year, and the volume of bookings was up over 570% compared to the same period last year.
The Chinese mainland was the top source of arrivals to New Zealand in the first half of this year, followed by other key markets, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and South Korea, making the top 10 list.
Tourism New Zealand's Chief Executive, René de Monchy said, "Through the partnership, Tourism New Zealand aims to provide Asia Pacific travellers with more convenient booking methods, personalised itinerary planning, and comprehensive service support. We look forward to welcoming travellers to deeply explore the beautiful landscapes and unique culture of Aotearoa New Zealand, as well as experience our manaakitanga."
About Tourism New Zealand
Tourism New Zealand is responsible for promoting New Zealand in key markets as a visitor destination.Tourism New Zealand is the organisation responsible for marketing New Zealand as a holiday destination. The major tool we use to do this is the 100% Pure New Zealand marketing campaign, a campaign that has evolved over the past decade to make New Zealand one of the world's most well-respected tourism brands.
About Trip.com Group
Trip.com Group is a leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner and Qunar. Across its platforms, Trip.com Group helps travellers around the world make informed and cost-effective bookings for travel products and services and enables partners to connect their offerings with users through the aggregation of comprehensive travel-related content and resources, and an advanced transaction platform consisting of apps, websites and 24/7 customer service centres. Founded in 1999 and listed on NASDAQ in 2003 and HKEX in 2021, Trip.com Group has become one of the best-known travel groups in the world, with the mission "to pursue the perfect trip for a better world".
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Travel Technology
prnewswire | July 21, 2023
Wego, the largest online travel marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), invites travelers to discover Azerbaijan in all seasons.
The two companies will join forces for a new campaign aiming to showcase Azerbaijan's incredible attractions to MENA travelers. Building on the successful previous partnership, this collaboration will leverage Wego's extensive reach and innovative marketing strategies to showcase Azerbaijan's rich cultural heritage, diverse landscapes, and warm hospitality.
In Azerbaijan, both summer and winter offer a wide range of exciting activities for each type of traveler.
Mamoun Hmedan, Chief Commercial Officer and Managing Director, MENA and India, Wego, said: "As we renew our partnership with Azerbaijan Tourism Board, we aim to inspire and guide travelers to explore the wonders of Azerbaijan and create a seamless and inspiring travel experience. We recorded over 830,000 searches globally to Azerbaijan this year and we are expecting to see an increase in the searches towards the summer."
During the summer months, the country's beautiful coastal areas become a haven for beach lovers. Travelers can indulge in water sports such as jet skiing and parasailing. Additionally, the picturesque mountainous regions of Azerbaijan, such as the Greater Caucasus range, provide fantastic opportunities for hiking, trekking, and exploring scenic trails that lead to breathtaking vistas and hidden waterfalls.
Florian Sengstschmid, CEO, Azerbaijan Tourism Board, said: "In winter, Azerbaijan transforms into a winter wonderland, providing excellent opportunities for winter sports enthusiasts. The country has premier ski resorts and offer world-class skiing and snowboarding facilities with a range of slopes suitable for beginners to advanced skiers. Additionally, the picturesque village of Gabala, located in the Tufandag Mountains, offers a charming winter retreat with opportunities for skiing, snowboarding, and even enjoying horse-drawn sleigh rides through snowy landscapes."
About Wego
Wegoprovides award-winning travel search websites and top-ranked mobile apps for travelers living in the Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions. Wego harnesses powerful yet simple to use technology that automates the process of searching and comparing results from hundreds of airlines, hotels, and online travel agency websites.
Wego presents an unbiased comparison of all travel products and prices offered in the marketplace by merchants, both local and global, and enables shoppers to quickly find the best deal and place to book whether it is from an airline or hotel directly or with a third-party aggregator website.
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Travel Technology
businesswire | August 07, 2023
OAG, the world’s leading data platform for the global travel industry, has acquired Infare, the leading provider of competitor air travel data, from Ventiga Capital in a deal valuing the combined entity at over US$500m. Together, OAG and Infare have an exciting journey ahead to leverage a truly market-leading end-to-end data platform to serve mission-critical air travel intelligence needs across the world.
With renowned industry heritage, both businesses share a deep passion for quality, accuracy, and customer-centricity. Together, there is a significant opportunity for OAG and Infare to better serve airline partners and the wider travel ecosystem with high-quality data and innovative solutions.
Infare is the partner of choice for airlines demanding the highest quality competitor air travel data source to support their growth. Combining OAG’s existing data solutions with airfare data creates a compelling proposition for customers who can get a broader picture of supply and demand. This enables customers to forecast resource, evaluate travel demand and competition, and build more complex and innovative models to drive revenue and profitable growth.
Through the acquisition, OAG now grows to over 300 employees globally across 10 offices.
Phil Callow, CEO of OAG, commented:
“The increasing dynamism in global travel and technology is fuelling a need for more sophisticated, granular data to understand, manage and unlock growth in air travel. The acquisition of Infare strengthens our ability to deliver consistent and accurate information across the wider supply and demand value chain. Together, we are enabling new and existing customers to thrive and innovate ahead of their counterparts. I am excited to welcome Infare colleagues to the OAG family.”
Nils Gelbjerg-Hansen, CEO of Infare, commented:
“Access to comprehensive and accurate data is paramount for making informed business decisions. Airlines rely on data to gain valuable insights into customer behaviour, market trends, and operational efficiency. Our technology platform, data sets, and intelligence software complement OAG’s and will greatly benefit our customers worldwide. We see this as a unique opportunity to expand our services and introduce new innovative products for our customers, we are excited about the journey ahead together.”
Both management teams will continue in the Group and will retain a shareholding, with fresh backing provided by Vitruvian Partners.
Ben Johnson, a Partner at Vitruvian, commented:
“OAG and Infare are both clear leaders in their respective global markets. The combination creates additional growth opportunities for both teams. Vitruvian is delighted to support this ambitious technology company and renew our relationship with them for the years to come.”
Niclas Gabrán, Managing Partner at Ventiga Capital Partners, commented:
“It has been a pleasure working together with Nils and his team to build Infare into a leading travel data provider through organic growth and acquisitions. Infare’s next chapter as a part of the OAG family will undoubtedly create further growth opportunities both within and outside the air travel sector.”
About OAG
OAGis the leading data platform for the global travel industry, powering the growth and innovation of the air travel ecosystem since 1929. It has the world’s largest network of flight information, covering the whole journey from planning to customer experience. Customers include airlines, airports, travel technology players, aviation service providers, government agencies, financial institutions, and consultancies. Headquartered in the UK, OAG has operations in the USA, Singapore, Japan, China, and Lithuania.
About Infare
Infare is the leading competitor air travel data provider, empowering airlines to make effective pricing decisions. Infare’s mission is to fuel airline systems with high-quality competitor air travel data delivered daily, multiple times a day or live. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, the company has a global reach and presence worldwide.
About Vitruvian Partners
Vitruvian is an independent growth capital firm headquartered in London with a global presence. Vitruvian focuses on dynamic situations characterized by rapid growth and change across industries spanning technology, financial services, healthcare, and business and consumer services. Vitruvian is among the largest pools of capital in Europe supporting innovative and higher growth companies. Vitruvian Funds have backed over 90 companies and have assets under management of €15+ billion. Notable investments to date include global market leaders and innovators in their field such as Skyscanner, Sykes Holiday Cottages, CFC Underwriting, CallCredit, Travel Counsellors, Trustpilot, Farfetch, Just Eat, Wise, and Global-e.
About Ventiga Capital Partners
Ventiga is an entrepreneurial and growth-focused investor partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs and management teams to achieve sustainable, profitable growth and transformational value through active, engaged, and responsible ownership. Ventiga invests in profitable growth companies with superior business expansion potential, primarily in the B2B services space.
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