Aviareps, a leading international representation, marketing and communications company for the travel industry, together with the Shanghai Municipal Government, has announced the launch of Shanghai’s official online B2B travel platform, SmoothTravel.
SmoothTravel serves as the official gateway for the global travel industry to connect with both inbound and outbound Chinese travel agencies, tour wholesalers, online travel agencies (OTAs), and MICE agents in the East China market.
SmoothTravel aims to seamlessly link international travel businesses with the thriving Chinese travel market. The platform is designed for all segments of the travel industry around the world, including major destinations, receptive tour operators, hotel groups, retailers, attractions, rental car agencies, cruise lines, and more, all eager to broaden their business outreach to the Chinese market.
Key Features of SmoothTravel:
• China Partner Search: SmoothTravel empowers overseas members to identify new inbound or outbound China travel trade partners. Members can easily connect with Smooth Travel’s Member Matching Manager, facilitating introductions to highly-qualified Chinese travel trade partners based on their specific requirements.
• Risk Mitigation: Addressing differences in payment practices, SmoothTravel provides a unique payment guarantee system to minimize risks associated with new China travel industry partners. A comprehensive travel insurance program is also offered for Chinese members to ensure risk reduction for both outbound and inbound sectors. In addition, a bilingual mediation system to resolve any disputes is provided at no cost to members.
• China Outbound Market and Consumer Insights: Leveraging extensive China government and industry resources, SmoothTravel delivers the latest research on China's outbound travel market, industry trends, and consumer preferences. This includes surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, workshops, and on-site visits.
• Training and Support: SmoothTravel offers a comprehensive two-way training platform with specialized courses for both overseas and Chinese members. All members can access promotion and support during various events in China.
• Market Research: Members can commission SmoothTravel for custom-tailored tourism market research to optimize their market strategies.
Edgar Lacker, CEO Aviareps, said: "Aviareps is delighted to partner with the Shanghai Government on the launch of SmoothTravel, Shanghai's official B2B travel platform, bringing it to the travel industry around the world via our 68 offices in 65 countries. We look forward to working with the Shanghai Government to position SmoothTravel as a powerful new tool for the global travel industry to rapidly grow its China business, leveraging SmoothTravel's unique suite of services."
Zhu Yihong, Director of the Shanghai Government's Tourism Market Quality Center, said: “As the number of cross-border travellers continues to grow, and the development of China's inbound and outbound tourism market starts to boom once again, SmoothTravel will play a vital role. SmoothTravel will allow the Chinese travel trade to offer higher quality and safer overseas travel products, and will strengthen ties between the travel industry around the world and China’s tourism industry. SmoothTravel will also play a key role in promoting Chinese consumers' awareness of cross-border travel insurance, will allow consumers to choose high-quality tourism players in both China and abroad, and will provide unique arbitration tools to the global travel industry. The launch of SmoothTravel is of great significance and will inject new vitality into the development of Shanghai's tourism industry and the Shanghai Government will do its utmost to ensure the success of SmoothTravel to contribute to the healthy development of China's inbound and outbound tourism market. SmoothTravel has been designed to revolutionize the way the global travel industry engages with the Chinese market and redefine collaboration and connectivity, providing unparalleled opportunities for businesses to thrive in the vibrant Chinese market.” -TradeArabia News Service