TUI has agreed a deal with China’s largest online travel agency Ctrip which will market the group’s Destination Experiences’ tours and activities.
The agreement will see TUI Destination Experiences develop exclusive excursions and day tours with Chinese-speaking guides for some destinations.
TUI’s Destination Experiences division already offers 50,000 tours and activities as well as tickets for attractions and museums in 1,900 cities.
Tickets, tours and activities are available online through the Musement platform which TUI acquired last autumn.
Ctrip reports having 200 million users per month.
TUI Destination Experiences managing director David Schelp said the partnership with Ctrip “reflects the opportunities in the online business in the tours and activities market, [especially] in markets like China and South East Asia”.
He said: “We are convinced we will significantly increase our online market share in this business in the next few years.”
TUI Destination Experiences is one of TUI group’s three strategic pillars alongside its hotels and resorts business and cruises.
The group acquired Hotelbeds’ destination management business for €110 million in May last year having previously sold the Hotelbeds business to private equity group Cinven and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for almost €1.2 billion in 2016.
It also acquired Italian start-up platform Musement which customises tours and activities offers to customers.