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Sep 21Mon
  1. TravelDaily China

    Tongcheng Travel Expands 'First Flight' Service to 58 Airports

    On September 21 Tongcheng Travel announced an upgrade to its domestic 'First Flight Worry-Free' service, expanding partner airports from over 40 to 58 with 237 convenience services, extending coverage from top-tier hubs to regional hubs. The first-flight coupon was upgraded from RMB 30 to a RMB 188 multi-scenario travel voucher pack covering flights, hotels, attractions, airport transfers and ride-hailing. Tongcheng says the service now handles nearly 3,000 people daily, up 246% year on year.

  2. Pinchain Tourism

    Tongcheng Travel Upgrades First-Flight Service to 58 Airports

    Tongcheng Travel upgraded its domestic First Flight Worry-Free service, growing partner airports from over 40 to 58 with 237 convenience services, spanning top-tier and regional hubs. The first-flight coupon rose from RMB 30 to a RMB 188 travel voucher pack. Tongcheng says the service handles nearly 3,000 people daily, up 246% year on year; China's flying population topped 500 million by end-2025, with about 900 million people yet to fly.

Sep 18Fri
  1. Skift Feed

    IHG's Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer on Making Hotels Legible to AI

    IHG Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer Heather Balsley will speak at Skift Global Forum in New York on September 22–24, 2026, about the hotel group's content overhaul aimed at AI recommendations. She said AI tools are only as helpful as the content they draw from, so hotel content must go beyond basic descriptions and amenities to be rich, accurate and relevant, helping AI understand what makes a property unique and match it with the right guest. Later this year IHG will introduce a new platform to transform how hotel content is structured and managed, strengthening digital signals that help its hotels be surfaced and recommended by AI tools. She also frames AI as the next discovery shift…

  2. Meadin Research

    Meadin Research: H1 2026 Financial Analysis of 70 Chinese Cultural Tourism Groups

    Meadin Research published an analysis of H1 2026 financial reports from 70 Chinese cultural tourism groups. Domestic trips reached 3.463 billion, up 5.4% year on year, while total spending rose 2.0% to RMB 3.21 trillion, showing strong volume but slower spending growth. Combined revenue of the 70 groups was RMB 180.67 billion, averaging RMB 2.581 billion, with average year-on-year growth of 2.93%. Combined net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 7.103 billion, averaging RMB 101 million; 52 companies were profitable (about 74%) and 18 posted losses. The five groups with revenue above RMB 10 billion remained Trip.com Group-S, China Duty Free, Yuyuan, Huazhu Group-S and OCT A. The repo…

Sep 17Thu
  1. TravelDaily China

    Fliggy Subsidises 12% of Domestic Flight Refund Fees for Top Members

    TravelDaily China reports Fliggy upgraded its domestic flight refund protection standard: for Fliggy F4, F5, F6 and all 88VIP members, refund fees on self-purchased domestic tickets booked via the Fliggy app or Taobao's Fliggy entry can get an 88% discount off the airline standard, i.e. Fliggy subsidises 12% of the fee. It applies to one-way direct, stopover, connecting and round-trip domestic itineraries, stacks with airline benefits, and gives five entitlements per person per calendar year deducted by flight segment. Public data shows Fliggy has over 500 million registered members and about 64 million 88VIP members. The China Air Transport Association says it is drafting a dedicated group…

  2. Pinchain Tourism

    Fliggy Subsidises 12% of Refund Fees for 88VIP and F4+ Members

    Fliggy upgraded its domestic flight refund protection standard for F4, F5, F6 and all 88VIP members, offering a 12% discount on airline refund fees, i.e., Fliggy subsidises 12% of the fee. The benefit applies to one-way direct, stopover, connecting and round-trip itineraries, limited to five times per person per calendar year, deducted by flight segment. Fliggy has over 500 million registered members and about 64 million 88VIP members.

  3. Agoda Newsroom

    Agoda Partners with Capella Hotel Group on Distribution

    Digital travel platform Agoda has partnered with luxury hospitality management company Capella Hotel Group, bringing all luxury and lifestyle properties under Capella Hotels and Resorts and Patina Hotels & Resorts onto the Agoda platform. Agoda says this opens Capella's award-winning portfolio to its global customer base. The article cites a Visa projection that Asia will account for nearly half of the world's new high-net-worth individuals by 2028; Agoda's 2026 Travel Outlook Report shows 31% of surveyed travellers prioritise culinary experiences and 25% cite cultural exploration as a key motivator. McKinsey projects Asia-Pacific luxury travel demand to grow about 8% annually.

  4. Skift Feed

    Sam's Club Travel Relaunches With Cruises via Boundless Labs Partnership

    Sam's Club, the warehouse retail chain owned by Walmart, has relaunched Sam's Club Travel with a new cruise-booking site through a partnership with Boundless Labs, a five-year-old cruise-booking technology company. Sam's Club curates itineraries, sailings and destinations. The vast majority of cruise bookings industrywide still happen offline through human agents because of complexity spanning the sailing, cabin types, meal plans, flights to the embarkation port, hotel nights, transfers and shore excursions. Boundless Labs says more than 90% of the cruise bookings it handles for other partners, including Kayak and PerkSpot, happen online.

Sep 16Wed
  1. Pinchain Tourism

    Tongcheng Travel Partners with Guangdong and Other Destinations to Issue Holiday Consumption Vouche…

    Tongcheng Travel has partnered with the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and more than ten other destinations to issue Mid-Autumn and National Day cultural tourism consumption vouchers, with total voucher value exceeding 60 million yuan. On September 11, the 2026 Guangdong "Golden Autumn Cultural Tourism Consumption Season" subsidy program launched, offering four voucher categories—hotel, scenic spot, vacation package, and performing arts/cultural creative—each with a maximum discount of up to 500 yuan. Tongcheng data shows that driven by extended-holiday travel demand, booking heat for domestic long-haul flights over 1,200 km rose significantly, and county-level in-de…

  2. TravelDaily China

    Qunar: National Day Flight and Hotel Bookings Up 56% Week-on-Week

    On September 16, train tickets for the day before National Day (September 30) went on sale, driving flight and hotel bookings into a peak period. Qunar data shows that as of September 16, searches for keywords such as 'Mid-Autumn' and 'National Day' rose 167% month-on-month, National Day flight and hotel bookings rose 56% week-on-week, and bookings on popular routes over 2,000 km doubled year-on-year. Beijing, Qingdao, Nanjing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guiyang, and Guangzhou ranked in the top 10 popular National Day cities. Concerts and sports events boosted nearby hotel bookings, while county-level and outbound travel also grew.

  3. TravelDaily China

    Tongcheng Travel Partners with Over Ten Destinations to Issue Holiday Tourism Vouchers

    Tongcheng Travel, together with the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, launched the 2026 Guangdong 'Golden Autumn Culture and Tourism Consumption Season' subsidy program on September 11, issuing vouchers to inbound and domestic visitors to Guangdong. The platform is also participating in Mid-Autumn and National Day voucher programs across more than ten destinations including Suzhou, Xuzhou, Lhasa, Harbin, Nanchang, Yibin, Guizhou and Jiangxi, with total voucher value exceeding RMB 60 million. Validity generally covers the holiday period, with some extending to end-November.

  4. Expedia Group Newsroom

    Expedia and PredictHQ: Major US Summer Sporting Events Projected to Drive Over $537M in Visitor Spe…

    New research from Expedia Group and PredictHQ finds that 18 major US summer sporting events across basketball, baseball, tennis, golf and hockey were forecast to attract more than 4 million attendees and generate over $537 million in visitor spending, including roughly $259 million on accommodation and $233 million on hospitality. Four New York events alone accounted for $304 million, rising to over $423 million for the wider region when the Southampton golf event is included. Demand spilled into surrounding counties, with Solano County, California up 180% year on year. Canada was the largest inbound market by travel intent, while Brazil, Mexico, the UK and Japan also grew.

  5. TravelDaily China

    Trip.com Group Q2 Revenue RMB 15.7B, Antitrust Fine Drives RMB 2.4B Net Loss

    Trip.com Group reported unaudited Q2 2026 results: net revenue of RMB 15.7 billion, up 6% year on year but down 3% quarter on quarter; international platform revenue grew over 50% year on year, and inbound travel revenue rose at a high double-digit rate. A RMB 5.2 billion SAMR antitrust penalty pushed general and administrative expenses up 477% year on year to RMB 6.3 billion, producing a net loss of RMB 2.4 billion versus net income of RMB 4.9 billion a year earlier; excluding the penalty, net income was RMB 2.7 billion. Corporate travel management revenue reached RMB 771 million, up 11% year on year and 12% quarter on quarter.

Sep 15Tue
  1. Skift Feed

    GetYourGuide Taps Creators to Write Reviews for Tour Operators

    GetYourGuide is testing a Creator Review program that connects tour operators with content creators who write detailed, honest reviews to help new listings overcome the cold-start problem. Internal research found travelers are three times more likely to book an activity with three reviews. The feature is in beta and will roll out to the full creator community soon.

  2. TravelDaily China

    Airbnb Asia Leadership Reshuffle: Kong Zhiqiu Appointed Asia Head

    TravelDaily China learned that in April 2026, Kong Zhiqiu, who had long served as Airbnb's China business head, formally assumed the role of Asia business head, overseeing overall strategy and business development across China, Japan, South Korea, India, and Southeast Asia. Kong has been with Airbnb for over ten years and was one of the early members of the China team. In September 2026, Airbnb announced via internal letter that China growth head He Changhua would become China business head, continuing to report to Kong. Kong said about one-third of global travel demand comes from Asia. WTTC data shows that in 2025, Asia-Pacific tourism contributed $3.29 trillion to GDP, up about 8.1% year…

  3. Agoda Newsroom

    Agoda Begins Limited Public Beta of AI Assistant Turning Travel Ideas into Bookable Trips

    Agoda has begun beta rollout of its new AI Assistant, designed to help travelers turn travel ideas into personalized, bookable trips. Initially available to a select group of Agoda mobile app users, it connects conversational trip planning with Agoda's live inventory of more than 6 million accommodations, as well as flights and activities. The assistant retains user preferences and trip context; its core conversational intelligence is powered by OpenAI's GPT-5.6 model, with Google Gemini's 'Grounding with Google Maps' feature used for complex trip planning. It will gradually be made available to all mobile app users over the coming months.

  4. Hospitality Technology

    Case Study: How a Midscale Independent Cut Revenue Alert Response Times to 1.8 Hours

    Jala Bapa Hospitality, a small independent midscale property in Los Angeles County, built a four-layer Power BI risk-monitoring dashboard using standard PMS exports, OTA reports and Excel, with no dedicated revenue team or enterprise software budget. The system scores occupancy deviation, monthly cancellation rate and RevPAR volatility against green-amber-red thresholds and pushes alerts via email and Teams. Over a six-month validation period, undetected occupancy risk events fell 14.3%, average manager response time dropped from 4.7 to 1.8 hours, and RevPAR coefficient of variation declined from 0.22 to 0.16.

Sep 14Mon
  1. Booking.com Newsroom

    Booking.com Research: What Travel Really Reveals About Relationships

    Booking.com released its "Turbulence Test" research, based on a July 2026 survey of 1,253 U.S. adults. 35% of travelers say they discovered a companion was not compatible after traveling together, 35% have argued over money, 28% have considered ending the relationship or friendship, and 21% have bailed midway through a trip because of a bad travel partner (26% among Millennials). Travelers rate travel compatibility at an average importance of 74.1 out of 100, with 32% rating it 90 or higher.

  2. Booking.com Newsroom

    Booking.com renews partnership with UEFA national team competitions

    UEFA announced the renewal and expansion of its partnership with Booking.com, which will continue as the official accommodation and attractions partner across the UEFA Nations League Finals 2027, European Qualifiers 2027-28, UEFA European Under-21 Championship 2027, UEFA EURO 2028 and UEFA Women's EURO 2029. The deal includes integrating Booking.com into the fan ticketing journey and the Event Guide, plus two digital content-based sponsorship and engagement programmes.

  3. China Tourism News

    2026 Guangdong Tourism Expo Closes with On-Site Transactions Above RMB 80 Million

    On September 13, the 2026 Guangdong International Tourism Industry Expo, hosted by the Guangdong Provincial Culture and Tourism Development and Support Center (Guangdong Xinghai Performing Arts Group), closed in Guangzhou. Positioning itself around the Greater Bay Area with global reach, the expo gathered tourism resources from nearly 50 countries and regions, with more than 1,200 cultural tourism institutions exhibiting and over 160,000 professional visitors and members of the public attending. During the expo, the 2026 Guangdong Golden Autumn Cultural Tourism Consumption Season was launched, with exhibitors offering nearly 10,000 discounted products; preliminary statistics show on-site tr…

  4. Pinchain Tourism

    Tongcheng Travel Upgrades First-Time International Flyer Service

    On September 14, Tongcheng Travel announced a full upgrade of its first-time international flyer service, supported by eight hub airports including Shanghai Hongqiao, Beijing Daxing, Chengdu Tianfu, Hangzhou Xiaoshan, Qingdao Jiaodong and Zhengzhou Xinzheng, as well as airlines such as Air China, China Southern, Korean Air and Singapore Airlines. The upgraded service offers first-time international ticket buyers a coupon package worth 480 yuan and a free "new customer regret card" covering up to 240 yuan in refund fees. Passengers who book through the platform can access end-to-end airport support from check-in and security to boarding and arrival, with VIP security lanes available at some…

  5. Pinchain Tourism

    Pinchain Week 38: Tongcheng AI Products Debut, Fliggy Partners with Eastar Jet

    Pinchain Tourism released its Week 38, 2026 online travel highlights, aggregating multiple industry developments. Tongcheng Travel showcased four self-developed AI cultural tourism products at the 2026 China Culture and Tourism Industry Expo. Qunar data showed that this week's Mid-Autumn and National Day flight and hotel bookings rose 119% week on week, while searches for Mid-Autumn "moon-viewing flights" doubled year on year. Tuniu released its 2026 Mid-Autumn and National Day travel trend forecast, showing that outbound and long-haul domestic bookings and travel periods shifted notably earlier. On September 10, Fliggy and Eastar Jet signed a cooperation agreement in Hangzhou to deepen col…

Sep 13Sun
  1. Pinchain Tourism

    2026 China Summer Tourism Market Insight Report Released

    On September 12, at the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services results release hall, the event "New Momentum for Culture and Tourism, New Consumption Trends — 2026 China Summer Tourism Market Research Release" was held. The 2026 China Summer Tourism Market Insight Report, co-authored by the China Media Group Research Institute, the Communication Working Committee of the China Tourism Association and the China Tourism Group Research Institute, was officially released and simultaneously launched on multiple platforms with Ctrip, Tongcheng Travel, Meituan, Douyin Life Services and Xiaohongshu. The roughly 13,000-character report analyzes market size, customer structure, consumptio…

Sep 11Fri
  1. Pinchain Tourism

    Tuniu Releases 2026 Mid-Autumn and National Day Travel Trend Forecast

    Tuniu released its 2026 Mid-Autumn and National Day travel trend forecast, showing that booking and travel cycles for outbound and long-haul domestic trips shifted notably earlier. Families and three-generation groups accounted for over 70% of travelers; among those on National Day tours from October 1 to 7, over 35% departed before the holiday and over 10% left before Mid-Autumn to avoid crowds. Long-haul domestic travel led demand, with growing shares for independent travel and small pure-play groups, while short-haul outbound private groups were popular.

  2. Agoda Newsroom

    Agoda Partners with Kaohsiung City Government on Global Tourism Recognition

    Digital travel platform Agoda and the Kaohsiung City Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support Kaohsiung's goals to elevate its profile as a global travel destination. The collaboration covers co-branded marketing initiatives on Agoda's platform, exchanges of market and tourism insights, and digital training workshops to build local industry capabilities. Agoda will produce the inaugural Taiwan edition of Agoda Dialogues, a filmed conversation with the Mayor of Kaohsiung unveiling the city's tourism vision and international positioning, to be distributed across Agoda's channels in October 2026. Agoda data shows Kaohsiung is one of the fastest-growing destinations in Ta…

  3. Pinchain Tourism

    Fliggy and Eastar Jet Partner to Expand China-Korea Routes

    On September 10, Fliggy and South Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet signed a cooperation agreement in Hangzhou to deepen collaboration in digital marketing, membership benefits and AI. Eastar Jet covers East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia, with China among its densest route networks, operating flights between some Korean cities and Shanghai, Yanji, Zhangjiajie, Yantai, Zhengzhou and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Fliggy data shows Chinese bookings for Korean travel products grew over 40% year on year this summer.

  4. TravelDaily China

    Fliggy Partners with Eastar Jet to Expand Low-Cost China-Korea Tickets

    On September 10, Fliggy and South Korean low-cost carrier Eastar Jet signed a cooperation agreement in Hangzhou to deepen collaboration in digital marketing, membership benefits and AI. Eastar Jet's China routes cover Shanghai, Yanji, Zhangjiajie, Yantai, Zhengzhou and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Fliggy data shows Chinese bookings for Korean travel products grew over 40% year on year this summer, while Korean inbound flight bookings nearly doubled.

Sep 10Thu
  1. Skift Feed

    Booking's Etraveli Deal Blocked, Giving Expedia an M&A Edge

    Europe's General Court upheld a 2023 decision prohibiting Booking Holdings' roughly €1.63 billion ($1.9 billion) acquisition of Etraveli, the Swedish flights specialist and Booking partner. The court reasoned that flight bookings are a low-margin customer-acquisition channel that feeds travelers into Booking's high-margin hotel business, reinforcing its grip on the core market where the European Commission found it has a dominant position. Meanwhile, Expedia Group acquired Tiqets and Cartrawler this year to strengthen its B2B partner business, while Booking has fewer M&A options in Europe. The ruling affects the wider M&A scene in European travel and other sectors.

  2. Meadin Research

    Meadin Research: China Hotel Industry Development Report, August 2026

    Meadin Research released its August 2026 China hotel industry report. 700 new hotels opened in August, with economy and midscale brands each exceeding 200; 64 hotels were auctioned, 27 at over RMB 100 million. OTA summer data show the lodging market shifting from volume growth to structural growth driven by length of stay, county-level upscale demand and themed experiences: Fliggy domestic room nights rose 66% year-on-year, Ctrip's share of guests staying 2+ nights rose from 38% to 64%, and Tujia's 7+ night living orders grew 21%. On brand indices, only international upper-midscale and domestic upscale hotels rose, while midscale fell 0.9%; all seven regional brand indices declined. AI and…

  3. Web in Travel

    VantisCorp Launches White-Label TMC Platform; Booking Loses Etraveli Appeal

    VantisCorp launched a white-label corporate travel automation platform for TMCs, unifying hotel and flight booking, approvals, multi-entity compliance workflows, tax-compliant invoicing and payment integration, with contracted clients live in India, the UK and Saudi Arabia. The EU General Court rejected Booking Holdings' appeal against the European Commission's decision to block its €1.6 billion acquisition of Etraveli Group, upholding the EC's finding. Spotnana announced a direct integration with Marriott International covering 10,000+ properties and the industry's first verified Marriott Bonvoy loyalty linking. Laters.com (formerly Fly Fairly) raised a $1.5 million seed round, offering 10…

  4. Pinchain Tourism

    Qunar: Mid-Autumn Moon-Viewing Flight Searches Up 2x YoY

    On September 10, train tickets for the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival went on sale, accelerating flight and hotel bookings. Qunar data shows this week's Mid-Autumn and National Day flight-hotel bookings rose 119% week-on-week, entering peak season. With only 3 days between the 2026 Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, the 'take 3 days off for 13 days' plan went viral, unlocking the longest concentrated travel window in nearly a decade. Mid-Autumn first-day flight prices are 30% lower than National Day first-day; travelers booking flights to 2 or more destinations rose 25% YoY. Mid-Autumn 'moon-viewing flight' searches grew 200% YoY; treasure small-town product searches rose over 60% month-on-m…

  5. Agoda Newsroom

    Agoda Highlights Asia's Emerging Havens for Sleep Tourism

    Agoda has published a look at sleep tourism in Asia and a set of emerging destination recommendations. Sleep tourism refers to travelers planning trips around rest and recovery rather than sightseeing or activities. Agoda attributes the trend to rising burnout, chronic sleep deprivation, growing wellness awareness and the spread of sleep-tracking wearables, which have pushed sleep from a private health concern into a travel priority. Recommended destinations include Kinosaki Onsen in Japan, Khao Yai in Thailand, Sumba in Indonesia, Damyang in South Korea, Ba Be Lake in Vietnam and Alishan in Taiwan, characterized by quiet settings, natural darkness and accommodation built around genuine res…

  6. Skift Feed

    Navan Buys BoomPop to Push Into Meetings and Events

    Business travel platform Navan announced it has acquired BoomPop, an AI-powered platform for planning corporate meetings and events. The acquisition is the latest move in Navan's consolidation strategy, bringing meetings and events spending into the same platform where companies already book travel and manage expenses. Navan declined to disclose the acquisition price. Navan had partnered with BoomPop earlier this year, repeating a playbook it used with Smartrips.

Sep 9Wed
  1. Skift Feed

    Why Personal AI Assistant Hype Matters More for Travel Than Any AI Travel Product

    Skift founder Rafat Ali argues that general-purpose personal AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are incorporating travel booking into their capabilities, posing a greater threat to the travel industry than dedicated AI travel products. These assistants can directly access emails, calendars, and more, simplifying trip planning and booking, potentially disrupting traditional OTAs and TMCs.

Sep 7Mon
  1. Pinchain Tourism

    Weekly Online Travel Digest: Week 37 of 2026

    Pinchain Tourism released its Week 37 digest of industry news, covering summer travel data, OTA updates, cruise partnerships, and hotel renovations. Highlights: night tour bookings up 52% YoY, long-haul trips account for 32%, Club Med filed for HK IPO, Hilton's renovation signings exceeded last year's total.

Sep 5Sat
Sep 4Fri
  1. Skift Feed

    Fake AI Hotel Videos Are Coming for Travel

    The Skift podcast discusses AI-generated TikTok videos promoting a Sedona luxury resort with fake amenities, fake creators, and mismatched commission tags. It also analyzes an estimate that Booking may surpass Expedia in B2B room nights, potentially reshaping OTA competition. Both stories highlight trust as a central issue in travel marketing and sales.

Sep 3Thu
  1. Skift Feed

    Swiggy Launches Travel Concierge Crew

    Indian food delivery giant Swiggy has repositioned Crew as a subscription-based, invite-only personal travel concierge targeting affluent, time-poor urban consumers. It covers flights, hotels, cabs, visas, forex, reservations, and local experiences with 24/7 support. Priced at INR 999 ($10.60) for six months. In earlier tests, 40-50% of requests were travel-related.