Penang seals pact with Ctrip to bring tourism growth to state

Ctrip and Penang Global Tourism representatives gather to seal their first-time partnership

Chinese OTA giant Ctrip and Trip.com (a Ctrip Group company) have entered into a strategic MoU with Penang Global Tourism, sealing the first partnership of its kind for the involved parties.

According to the agreement, both parties will focus on various travel products such as hotels and attractions, mainly targeted at developing the FIT market. 

The cooperation will also include marketing and promotion of Penang via Ctrip for Chinese travellers as well as attracting tourists from other parts of the region such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong through Trip.com.

Ctrip Destination Marketing’s general manager Edison Chen is confident that the joint promotion of Ctrip Group and Trip.com will help in “increasing the rapid growth of Penang’s overseas tourists” by leveraging “Ctrip’s advantages in big data and precision marketing”.

“We aim to strengthen the image of Penang in general and promote it as a travel destination with unique experiences in order to convert customers’ interest into bookings including flights, hotels, vacation packages and day tour products,” he added.

Ooi Chok Yan, CEO of Penang Global Tourism, added: “We are proud to partake in this venture as Penang is the first Malaysian state to undertake this global tourism campaign, and the first state as well to collaborate with Ctrip and Trip.com… We are certainly looking forward to leveraging these platforms where it will not only reach out to the Chinese, but also other markets globally.”

Earlier in June, the Penang government launched the Penang Experience year 2020, in line with Visit Malaysia Year 2020. Since 2016, Ctrip Destination Marketing established a long-term relationship with Penang Global Tourism. Last year, Penang’s marketing campaign reached nearly 10 million exposures at Ctrip.com, a 26.2 per cent year-on-year growth.

Malaysia, where Ctrip has established a branch office since 2014, has also been identified as one of the key areas of the OTA’s global expansion.

-TTG Asia.