• The joint venture, named ‘Joyful Journey Priority Pass’, will bring multiple value-added benefits including market-specific agile technology, an expanded inventory of airport lounges, and an enhanced traveller experience
• The joint venture marks both companies’ shared optimism in the accelerating global travel rebound and China’s leisure and corporate travel sectors, as well as continued support of, and investment in, this important growth market

BEIJING, April 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Collinson, a global leader in the provision of airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement solutions, and owner and operator of Priority Pass, today announces a joint venture with Joyful Journey Group, a leading air and rail digital travel experiences partner, to form ‘Joyful Journey Priority Pass’ in mainland China. This strategic alliance will see Collinson and Joyful Journey Group combine their strengths and expertise to provide its clients, partners, and direct customers with enhanced travel experiences, where every journey is elevated into something special.

According to the World Tourism Organisation (UN Tourism), international tourism is on track to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024, underpinned by the unleashing of remaining pent-up demand, increased air connectivity, and a stronger recovery of Asian markets and destinations. The recovery of Chinese outbound and inbound tourism is expected to accelerate in 2024, due to visa facilitation and improved air capacity.^[1]

This joint venture will further strengthen Collinson’s presence in mainland China, where the company first established its presence in 2004, and underlines Collinson’s commitment to a continued focus on and investment in the market. Known for its global expertise in delivering market-leading airport and travel experiences, as well as customer engagement solutions, Collinson’s joint venture with Joyful Journey Group will bring multiple value-added benefits for their clients and travellers, including:

• Market-specific, agile technology: including seamless API integration to client apps.
• Enhanced customer experience: providing 24/7 Mandarin-speaking customer service.
• Expanded inventory and exclusive content: adding almost 90 new airport lounges in mainland China for domestic travellers (a sub-set of which will be made available to international travellers)

“We are delighted to unveil our partnership with Joyful Journey Group and eagerly anticipate the immense potential offered by this significant market collaboration,” said Christopher Evans, CEO of Collinson International. “With China’s increasing prominence as a key travel hub, this joint venture underscores our global ambition, our commitment to both clients and partners and our passion for delivering an elevated traveller experience.”

“It’s great to be able to share the news of this strategic joint venture with our partners at Joyful Journey Group, a collaboration designed to enable our clients to drive increased customer engagement and value, through our joint expertise and expanded breadth of solutions,” said Todd Handcock, Global Chief Commercial Officer and Asia Pacific President at Collinson. “As the travel market in mainland China is forecasted to recover at pace this year, it presents an incredible opportunity for growth and innovation; and as such, this alliance is forged at an opportune time for all parties. Innovation has always been part of our DNA and we continue to evolve our solutions to empower our clients and partners to remain market-leading in this agile and competitive market. We strongly believe this partnership brings multiple benefits and we’re looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Joyful Journey Group to help elevate every journey into something special.”

Joyful Journey Group Co-founder and CEO, Wang Jun, said, “After the pandemic, China’s travel and tourism industry has surpassed the overall economic growth, with domestic travel and tourism continuing to grow, and outbound travel also on the rise. As a leader in China’s travel industry, Joyful Journey Group sees huge importance to our strategic partnership with Collinson, which will enable us to provide customers with a suite of excellent services to bring convenience and improve their travel experiences, and enable better interaction and understanding across global travellers, and further positive business opportunities for all sectors in the process.”

Joyful Journey Group Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Wang Feng, said, “The joint venture with Collinson is an indication of our mutual understanding and alignment on how we collaborate and innovate for our global travellers. Travel and tourism are industries with highly segmented customers, that span across high-value customers and mass travellers. We will roll out services and operations that align with our respective strengths, to provide our corporate customers with superior, effective and viable solutions in this highly competitive sector. We are very confident that our partnership will thrive in these technologically-focused times, and with the support of shareholders and strategic partners such as Alipay, this can lead the transformation of the travel service industry to better integrate with finance and tele-communication innovations.”

Collinson continues to evolve the choice and breadth of its inventory and service delivery capability in Asia Pacific and globally, to deliver seamless travel experiences and customer engagement programmes that meet the evolving needs of its clients and their customers.

About Collinson

Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence.

We work with the world’s leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide. We deliver market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million end consumers.

Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world’s original and leading airport experiences programme. Travellers can access a network of over 1,500 lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 700 airports in 145 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special.

About Priority Pass

Priority Pass is the world’s original and market-leading airport experiences programme. We provide travellers with access to over 1,500 airport lounges and travel experiences in over 700 airports in 145 countries. Members can access an ever-growing range of premium experiences – from spas to sleeping pods to dining – that help elevate every journey into something special. By building partnerships with other leading brands, we help to bring a better travel experience to the world.

Priority Pass is operated by Collinson, the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence.

About Joyful Journey Group

Established in 2012, Joyful Journey Group (full name: Beijing Joyful Journey Technology (Group) Co., Ltd), is a leading air and rail digital travel experiences provider who is dedicated to making travel easier and each journey better.

Headquartered in mainland China, Joyful Journey Group operates three wholly-owned subsidiaries, Shanghai Joyful Journey Industry, Beijing Joyful Journey Travel and Shenzhen Joyful Journey Technology. Serving nearly 10 million passengers annually, they have a wide network of travel experiences present in over 1,500 airports and 200 high-speed rail stations worldwide. Joyful Journey Group also works with clients and partners across various industries including travel, transportation, financial services, tourism, hospitality and media.

Joyful Journey Group is at the forefront of digital innovation and as such, the Group has spearheaded several innovation projects aimed at enhancing the travel experience for passengers and improving the quality and efficiency of the transportation sector.

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SOURCE Collinson Group