Tuniu’s CEO Donald Yu said the OTA has no privatization plans but will accelerate its globalization strategy and aims to add 100 overseas destination centers over the next three years.
Tuniu's website
Extending tourism finance services
Tuniu announced it had formed a strategic partnership with Koridor Utara Malaysia (NCIA) on August 5 for joint marketing and sales of NCIA-controlled tourism resources to Chinese customers.
“Travel finance is an important business area for us. Tuniu Finance will offer a down-payment departure option for its special four-night six-day independent travel packages to Langkawi Rainbow Resort Hotel Malaysia. All customers can enjoy the package with a down payment of only RMB100 and make hassle-free interest-free monthly payments afterwards. This is an original service that our 150-member financial services team will develop further in the future,” Mr. Yu said.
No plans for privatization
Mr. Yu said he is aware of ongoing discussion in the industry regarding the impact of the potential privatization. This was said in light of fellow OTA eLong’s privatization offer at a favorable offer price of US$18 per American depositary share from shareholder and IT giant Tencent on August 4. “However, we at Tuniu have no plans for privatization and we are focusing instead on building our global presence. Listing overseas is helping us reach our goal of having an overseas presence, and our main task now is to establish direct sourcing at our global destinations. We hope to increase the proportion of direct purchasing to 50% in the next 2-3 years,” he said.
Outbound tourism contributed to over 70% of Tuniu’s turnover in the first quarter of 2015. It has been picking up the pace of development for domestic and overseas destination services and partnerships, it signed strategic partnerships with tourism authorities of French Reunion Islands and Israel in April and set up its first overseas destination service center in the Maldives in June.
“Our strategic partnership and product release with NCIA is also an important part of our current effort of expanding destination services and partnerships. Tuniu will continue to develop partnerships in overseas destinations to strengthen our position in the outbound tourism market,” he said.(Translation by David)
