The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the rise of China’s second- and third-tier cities are presenting new business opportunities for Carlson Wagonlit Travel China.
Albert Zhong, general manager, China, said the market is getting to the point where more private-owned companies and state-owned enterprises are open to appointing international TMCs, adopting a multi-vendor model, and integrating their respective system capabilities.
“This development started about three years ago. Their estimated domestic and international air travel spend can be between US$300 and US$500 million annually, and when you add in hotel spend, the figure can be doubled,” he said.
“From a traffic perspective, 60 per cent of transactions are domestic and the rest international,” he observed, adding that international travel for companies involved in BRI projects “will increase significantly in the next few years”.
“With more and more business penetration in tier-two and three cities like Chengdu, Dalian, Shenzhen and Nanjing, there will be more opportunities”, citing the example of one manufacturing customer who has a network of 70 offices across the country.
Zhong opined that corporate travel demand will be dominated by Chinese companies five years from now. “Our business mix now is between 10 to 15 per cent Chinese companies and we will need to develop local capabilities to serve the (increasing market share) of customers.”
