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Tongcheng-Elong’s product categories, including hotels and tourist attraction ticketing, will be available for direct purchase on the Kuaishou platform.
BEIJING – Tongcheng-Elong Holdings Limited, a leading player in China’s online travel agency (OTA) industry, has established a strategic partnership with Kuaishou, a leading short video sharing and social network platform in China. Together both sides aim to further integrate travel products and services with short video and live-streaming content.
Tongcheng-Elong and Kuaishou will undertake in-depth cooperation in areas including supply chain, user traffic, content creation, branding and marketing, as well as data sharing, in order to combine travel services with live-stream and short video applications.
Tongcheng-Elong’s product categories, including hotels and tourist attraction ticketing, will be available for direct purchase on the Kuaishou platform. The travel services and products will be combined with the Kuaishou point of interest (POI) feature to suggest appropriate products to Kuaishou users inside the app, enhancing the core competitiveness and value-added of both brands. Users will now be able to experience Tongcheng-Elong’s best-in-class OTA service experience and book hotels directly on the Kuaishou platform. The purchasing of tourist attraction tickets on Kuaishou will be rolled out in the near future.
To incentivize travelers and stimulate consumption, Tongcheng-Elong and Kuaishou will jointly launch a traveler incentive program to encourage Kuaishou users to create inspiring travel content. Travel and sightseeing related content is already a popular category on Kuaishou and many other short form video platforms. Short form video can be an immersive way for users to discover a new travel location and find inspiration from travel influencers they follow, increasing their interest in travel. By incorporating its extensive catalogue of travel products into Kuaishou, Tongcheng-Elong seeks to help travelers research the best destinations, accelerate user decision making, and purchase a full-range of travel products all in an entertaining and smooth fashion.
“As a pioneer and a veteran in China’s OTA industry, Tongcheng-Elong has focused on all-round travel, covering various travel consumption scenarios, to meet the diverse travel needs of users, and improve travel experiences,” said Zhiwei Bai, Vice President of Tongcheng-Elong. “This in-depth cooperation with Kuaishou will provide consumers with a seamless purchasing experience, more travel scenarios, and will also help to diversify our user traffic channels.”
“Kuaishou has advantages in content marketing and live-streaming e-commerce. As one of the biggest players in the OTA market in China, Tongcheng-Elong has strengths in supply chain, products and services,” said an official director of Kuaishou. “The cooperation will bring a great travel experience to Kuaishou users.”
Tongcheng-Elong and Kuaishou began an initial cooperation in March of this year as short form video was becoming increasingly popular. The Company collaborated with Kuaishou to produce a series of short videos and live streams to promote hotels and attractions across the country, and to offer travel products on the Kuaishou platform. Kuaishou offered platform traffic support and influencer resources to collaborate on the content.
The newest step in the strategic cooperation is a win for both companies. Kuaishou users can now purchase Tongcheng-Elong products directly on the platform when watching short videos and live streams. It enables Tongcheng-Elong to reach more potential consumers, as well as to further expand the range of travel products on the Kuaishou platform. In 2020, Tongcheng-Elong has continued to diversify traffic channels through partnerships with smart phone brands, mini-programs, and this new cooperation with Kuaishou. By broadening traffic sources, the Company is able to capture new opportunities as the industry continues to grow and the needs of traveler continue to evolve.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
