iClick Interactive has partnered with Ctrip to bring data-driven insights, helping international brands reach China’s increasing outbound travellers.

iClick Interactive Asia Group Ltd, an online marketing technology platform in China, has announced a strategic partnership with Ctrip, the biggest OTA in China. The partnership seeks to provide an enriched solution for international brands, aiming at the rising number of outbound travellers from China.

Ctrip has more than 300 million members across its various platforms and it will combine with iClick’s data analysis and marketing capabilities to create data-driven solutions. The solution will enable the companies to reach more tourist groups by leveraging the largest Chinese consumer database in the travel industry. It will enable the personalisation of audience profiles that will benefit both the users and the companies alike.

As we’ve reported recently, the number of outbound travellers from China continues to rise. As the figure grows, the industry is also seeing a growing demand from travel and hospitality brands to use data in a more efficient way.

“A more effective way of reaching high-value outbound travellers in China”

Sammy Hsieh, CEO and co-founder of iClick, said: “In order to provide this advanced solution for the industry we are excited to work with Ctrip, one of Asia’s largest online travel agencies. Ctrip has a wide range of customers and supports 13 languages on their platforms, which is a perfect complement to our customised solutions. International travel brands will now have a more effective way of reaching high-value outbound travellers in China.”

According to the 2017 China Outbound Travel Big Data Report by China Tourism Academy and Ctrip, outbound travellers from China came to around 130 million. The increase can be attributed to increasing disposable income, fewer visa restrictions, better exchange rates and more flight connections. The number of outbound trips has risen 5.7% from 122 million in 2016 with the top source of visitors coming from Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Russia and South Africa.

“iClick has… a wealth  of audience data in China”

Samson Chai, overseas marketing director of Ctrip, added: “As one of the world’s largest online travel companies, we are always looking to find innovative new ways to improve our traveller services.

“iClick has a profound understanding of demand from international travel brands and a wealth of data insights and audience data in China. Our collaboration with iClick will allow us to leverage these advantages to bring value to both our customers and international travel brands who partner with us to run marketing programmes.”