Ctrip, UnionPay and Best Western join forces

Three giants in different industries, the Ctrip.com International Ltd, China UnionPay, and Best Western International, unveiled their new alliance at an opening ceremony held in Shanghai International Conference Center, in the Pudong New Area, on Mar 25.

The three parties reached an agreement on establishing a platform to offer one-stop all inclusive services to Chinese consumers with the aim of providing them with more convenience and comfort when they travel abroad.

In recent years, Chinese people have embraced the outbound tourism in a sign of changing lifestyles. Most of the Chinese outbound travelers are aged 30 to 38. Taking a package tour is the preferred way for them to relax and enrich their mind. Among Chinese tourists' most popular destinations abroad are Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the United States, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, France, and Germany.

In 2014, more than 100 million Chinese tourists chose to travel abroad. They booked rooms in international hotels in 5291 cities in 158 countries and regions across the globe.

According to a survey conducted by Ctrip, Chinese tourists will tend to book a hotel with the facilities and services such as free WiFi service, UnionPay card payment, Chinese breakfast, Chinese menu and Chinese language service. Against such a background, the Ctrip.com, China UnionPay and the Best Western International joined forces to facilitate the availability of the UnionPay card payment in the Best Western International's 4000 hotels that have been installed with free WiFi facilities.

Li Xiaoping, the senior vice president of Ctrip.com International Ltd., said, "Thanks to the joint efforts by the three companies, Ctrip will provide customers with more services to help them book their preferred hotels."

Wang Lixin, the chief business development officer of UnionPay International, said that UnionPay is the priority payment brand for outbound Chinese tourists, and that its card payment is now accepted in more than 150 countries and regions. UnionPay will collaborate with Best Western to ensure the cardholders can use their credit and debit cards to pay for more services as they prefer, he added

Dorothy Dowling, the senior vice president of marketing and sales for Best Western International, also expressed her confidence in three companies' multilateral cooperation, and said that they look forward to welcoming Chinese tourist.

Under the deal, Ctrip will treat any Best Western reservations through its website preferentially.

Ctrip.com International Ltd, headquartered in Shanghai, is China's largest online travel agency. It employs more than 20,000 people all across China.

UnionPay Co Ltd is China's largest bank credit and debit card company. It is responsible for operating the unified inter-bank clearing and settlement system in China and developing the international acceptance network for UnionPay cards.

Best Western International, headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz., USA, is a private international hotel brand with more than 4,000 hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide. It offers five types of hotels to suit different customer needs: Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier, Best Western Plus Executive Residencysm and BW Premier Collection.