HANGZHOU, China, Nov. 15, 2023 – Fliggy, a leading online travel platform and wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA and HKEX: 9988), today revealed that its transaction volumes of promotional items surged by over 80% year-on-year during the recent Double 11 online shopping festival. The number of users making transactions during the promotion period increased by nearly 100%. The data shows that travel remains a high priority for Chinese consumers.
Outbound travel has experienced a swift post-pandemic recovery. Travel products and services for those heading overseas have contributed more than one-third of the total transaction volumes on Fliggy this year. The traditional favorites of Maldives, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore within the “four-hour flight circle” around China, have been joined in the top 10 most popular destinations by New Zealand, Argentina, French Polynesia and Kenya.
Fliggy’s data reveals that orders of pre-sale products have increased significantly as users, especially those in the younger generation, prefer to buy now and plan later. Pre-sale products are a category that allows consumers to pay for items such as flight tickets and hotel rooms, taking advantage of a lower price while maintaining flexibility in their reservations until they confirm their travel plans.
Zhuang Zhuoran, CEO of Fliggy, said: “The Double 11 festival showcased Fliggy’s capacity to provide comprehensive services and our commitment to product innovation. The spike in transaction volumes on Fliggy underscored the strong upward trend of the tourism industry. As an open platform, Fliggy effectively connects with our merchants, and gives users a strong degree of confidence that creates a thriving ecosystem.”
“We are also seeing an increased adoption of the ‘buy now, travel when you want’ model among our users. With a wide range of choices and a fixed rate, the model makes it easier for consumers to place an order on travel products and maintain flexibility in their travel plans.”
A wide variety of merchants
This year, merchants on Fliggy have shown a much greater passion in participating in Double 11 than previously. The number of travel merchants engaged has increased by over 120%, among which many are first-time joiners.
In addition to world-renowned airlines, hotel groups, theme parks, large-scale tourist attractions and cruise lines, a number of boutique, cultural and tourism brands joined the platform-wide sales campaign for the first time. This included Songtasm Tour, which focuses on providing bespoke and fascinating travel experience for its guests, as well as various travel agency that are based in popular destination cities like Chengdu Bigfoot Inn Travel Agency and Yunan Zhongfang International Travel Agency. The diverse range shows the niche appeal and broad reach of the Fliggy platform, and this variety has become an important driving force of consumer spending.
Pre-sale model is trending in tourism
The pre-sale model continues to gain momentum. Over 400,000 ticket packages including “all-you-can-fly” passes have been sold during the festival. Accommodation products, theme parks and vacation-related products, travel packages, and car rental cards were among the coveted products. All of these can be used in multiple places and support flexible booking arrangements.
For travel merchants, the pre-sale model coupled with the capability of an online reservation system and content-based marketing provided by the Fliggy platform is an effective tool to manage inventory and revenue throughout the year, and increase sales in the off-season.
