Leading bedbank Hotelbeds Group has confirmed the continuation of strong growth in wholesale sales in the Chinese source market.

According to the Group’s booking data for the full 2017-2018 financial year, the number of room nights sold grew from the China source market by double digits year-on-year. China remains its largest wholesale market in the Asia Pacific for the third year running and the fourth biggest source market globally in the wholesale channel.

The top 10 international destinations booked via the Group’s platform in the Chinese source market this year remain all Asian, with each destination registering double-digit growth. The list was topped by Hong Kong, followed in descending order by Bangkok, Phuket, Singapore, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Bali, Osaka, and Beijing.

To non-Asian destinations, Chinese travellers are heading to Paris, with strong growth year-on-year, followed by London, Prague and Milan.

“Chinese travellers have now become the world’s number one travel segment”

Sam Turner, wholesale sales & sourcing director at Hotelbeds Group, said: “I am very proud to see that – once again – during the last financial year we have achieved outstanding sales growth in China. Of course, this is in part a reflection of the fact that Chinese travellers have now become the world’s number one travel segment, spending one in five of all dollars spent on outbound tourism globally.

“But this success is also a reflection of our hard work and persistence, having been in the market for well over ten years and dedicated ourselves to creating a product tailored to the needs of the local market – not least on the sourcing side, where we look for Chinese-friendly hotel accommodation and negotiate exclusive deals for Chinese B2B buyers.”

Hui-Wan Chua, APAC regional director for wholesale sales at Hotelbeds Group, added that since Tourico Holidays and GTA joined last year, the company now has over 170,000 hotels available, with many of them vying for Asian travellers.