Half a month before the Spring Festival travel peak, the online travel sector has seen another merger. On January 31, Beijing Business Today learned that the overseas B&B booking platform Fishtrip officially merged with the Tujia Group. This marks another effort by Tujia to expand into the overseas B&B sector. Following this merger, Chinese online travel companies are gradually shifting their focus to overseas markets. However, Tujia still faces challenges in the overseas market due to competition and policy restrictions.
Acquisition of Fishtrip Targets Overseas Market
Regarding the merger of Tujia and Fishtrip, Tujia COO Chang Le Yang said, "Fishtrip is undoubtedly a leader in the development of overseas B&Bs. We highly appreciate the strong execution, innovative spirit, and keen business sense of the Fishtrip team, especially their efficient and complete overseas B&B supply chain system."
"After the integration of Tujia and Fishtrip, the Fishtrip team and Tujia's original overseas business will merge into a new overseas business unit, overall responsible for Tujia's overseas business. As China's leading global B&B booking platform, Tujia has brand and traffic advantages on the consumer end, coupled with Fishtrip's excellent supply chain system. In the future, we will provide Chinese outbound tourists with better quality accommodations and service experiences," Na Yao, founder and CEO of Fishtrip, told Beijing Business Today.
Fishtrip was founded in early 2013, starting with B&Bs in Taiwan and focusing on the non-standard accommodation market. It has achieved considerable success in the Southeast Asian market. According to Fishtrip's official website, the global B&B booking platform Fishtrip Travel has served over one million users.
Beijing Business Today learned that after this merger, Tujia's traffic will change from the original 8-in-1 to 9-in-1, meaning that Tujia, Mayi.com, Ctrip, Tongcheng E-Long, Qunar, 58.com, WeChat Hotels, Sesame Credit, and Fishtrip will share housing inventory.
According to Tujia's official data, Tujia has covered 345 domestic destinations and 1,037 overseas destinations, with over 650,000 online listings. The addition of Fishtrip is expected to bring at least an additional 300,000 high-quality overseas listings. In terms of overall listing volume, Tujia will exceed 1 million listings, further expanding Tujia's overseas footprint, especially strengthening its position in the Asian market.
Focus on Japan and Southeast Asian Markets
This is not Tujia's first attempt to expand its overseas listings. In August 2017, Tujia announced its continued expansion of overseas business, with a focus on the Japanese market. Industry analysts pointed out that after acquiring Fishtrip, Tujia will certainly leverage China's booming outbound tourism market to further penetrate the Japanese and Southeast Asian markets.
In recent years, Chinese outbound tourism has seen explosive growth, with Japan and Southeast Asia being popular destinations for Chinese tourists. Policies such as relaxed visa requirements and consumption tax exemptions have also gradually increased the number of tourists visiting Japan. According to statistics from the Japan Tourism Agency, the number of foreign visitors to Japan increased by 19.3% in 2017, reaching 28.69 million, achieving the goal of 20 million visitors by 2020 several years ahead of schedule and setting new records for five consecutive years. Among the many tourists to Japan, Chinese tourists are the largest group. As the sharing accommodation industry rises, non-standard accommodation offers better cost performance and local characteristics compared to traditional hotels, gaining more recognition from users and the industry.
Xiaojun Zhang, President of the China Tourist Hotels Association Boutique Hotels Division, told Beijing Business Today that as the birthplace and spread of contemporary Asian B&Bs, Japan's socio-economic development is highly compatible with the development of the B&B industry. "Japanese B&Bs have aged significantly. Since the operators are elderly, their business concepts and technical means are somewhat outdated." He also pointed out that Japanese B&Bs use less online marketing and more instant messaging. "As the number of self-funded Chinese travelers grows, destination B&Bs in Japan and Southeast Asia can achieve sustained development," Xiaojun Zhang said.
International Market Challenges Persist
Due to the increasing number of tourists to Japan, the average hotel price in Japan has risen by 59% over the past five years.
This has led many foreign tourists to choose to stay in B&Bs through platforms like Airbnb to save on accommodation costs. In China, in addition to Tujia, platforms like Zizaike, Xiaozhu, and Zhubaijia are also increasing their efforts to enter the Japanese market.
Xiaojun Zhang admitted that compared to other countries and regions, Japan's legalization of urban B&Bs through the "Residential Accommodation Business Law" last year is significant positive news for foreign investors preparing to enter the Japanese homestay market.
After Airbnb, the world's largest B&B platform, entered Japan in 2014, China's Tujia also followed suit, entering Japan in 2016. Unlike Airbnb, Tujia targets Chinese tourists visiting Japan and established a wholly owned subsidiary, "Tujia Japan."
Xiaojun Zhang pointed out that Tujia's development in Japan is not due to the appeal of the Japanese B&B industry but is designed to serve the large number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan. Additionally, companies like Ziroom, Zhubaijia, and Xiaozhu have also expanded into Japan. The competition in the Japanese homestay market is becoming increasingly fierce.
Regarding the increasing number of "gold diggers" in the Japanese B&B market, Xiaojun Zhang believes that Chinese B&B-related companies like Tujia face significant challenges in entering the Japanese market.
Whether Tujia can succeed in the Japanese homestay market depends significantly on whether its business model is appropriate and meets local market needs. However, Xiaojun Zhang also pointed out that the Japanese B&B market will remain strong for quite some time, closely tied to the growth of Chinese tourist numbers. Given the expanding market demand, the future development prospects of Chinese-operated B&Bs in Japan are still promising.