Travel tech service provider Travel-X is able to process thousands of pieces of regular data and inventory data per second, so as to update prices and other key indicators concerning travel products in real time and in the first four months of this year, Chinese arrivals to Europe were up 9.3% on the same period last year and forward bookings for May to August are currently 7.9% ahead.
The top destinations for Chinese tourists were Germany (up 7.9%) and France (up 11.4%). The fastest growing destinations were Turkey (up 74.1%), Ukraine (up 27.6%) and Hungary (up 15.2%).
Chinese tourists are expected to make 5.7 million cruise trips this year, up 15% from last year. The annual passenger throughput of China's ocean liners will reach about 30 million by 2030, according to projections issued by the country's authorities in 2015.
China’s railway network is expected to transport 647 million passengers during this year’s summer travel rush, an increase of 7.6% year on year, according to the China Railway Corporation. During the period, passengers in the country will make a total of more than 10 million train journeys every day.
Startup funding updates
Travel tech service provider Travel-X has completed its A-round financing. By applying a high-performing airfare query engine built with search technology, it is able to process thousands of pieces of regular data and inventory data per second, so as to update prices and other key indicators concerning travel products in real time.
B2B insurtech platform P6air has received USD 1.56 million in an angel round funding. The company claims that it is able to achieve a 95% accuracy rate in predicting flight delays within 30 minutes, 5 percentage points higher than the industry average.
Kuaibangxing, a platform for turnkey travel services across North America, has reaped millions of dollars in an angel round of financing. With the latest funding, it will speed up to expand its own distribution channels and explore segmented or niche channels like overseas travel communities and parent-child education institutions.
MICE venue and service brand L-SPACE has closed a seed funding round backed by individual investors. The funds will be used to launch its first store slated for this September. The store will serve small meetings for 100-300 people, and the costs of such events will be lower than four- and five-star hotels.
Travel platform My Daydream has reaped USD 7.7 million in the A+ financing round. It was established in 2014 for independent travel designers to present tourists with immersive and personal getaways.
Yacht service operator HiTime has secured multi-million yuan in an angel round of financing. The company is planning to claim 70%-100% of the yachting market in Hainan, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta regions.
Hotel cloud-computing service provider Titan has pocketed USD 15 million in its C round funding. The company will use the proceeds to double down on technological innovation and business expansion to further develop its services to the hotel supply chain.
Homestay chain brand Youjia received an investment backed by investors including Ctrip and Tujia. The company operates as a Virtual Store & Service Center – each group of 100 guestrooms within a radius of three kilometers is clustered into a virtual store, supported by a service center that provides concierge, housekeeping, laundry and luggage valet services.
Residential hotel operator InnJoy has closed a USD 1.5-million angel round of financing. InnJoy is testing new retailing in its properties similar to that of the Yanxuan Hotel jointly launched by Chinese Internet portal NetEase and lifestyle hotel brand Atour. Users can try the products during their stay and place orders by scanning the QR codes in the hotel rooms.
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