The Marriott Welcome

Data is what I thought initially, a smart move in being able to partner with a great intent provider.

What a huge deal for Marriott, wow! Full access to China.. and then I thought what’s in it for Fliggy / Alibaba?

I’d say that Marriott is the winner here in terms of value.

They get access to Chinese tourists partnering with a highly trusted partner to build out and understand audiences, to build out their customer loyalty programme, and streamline payment processes for services (on site purchases in hotels).

What does Alibaba get?

The opportunity to tap into overseas spending, which would normally end with the purchase of the holiday basics, flights, hotels, etc.

Then I saw more recent news…that Alipay has partnered with Yelp, Fliggy with Qantas and Cathay Pacific.

Suddenly, it seems that Alibaba’s overall outbound tourism plan has come to fruition!

*Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily those of Hotmob