Chinese Travelers to Take to the Skies for the Year of the Pig

HONG KONG | JANUARY 31, 2019: Airlines are expected to see a spike in sales from Chinese travelers in the run up to Chinese New Year, the latest data from Worldpay, Inc. suggests. Analysis shows a 12 percent increase in the volume of flights being booked during the three weeks leading up to the start of the festival.¹

This trend is not just isolated to Mainland China. Flight bookings in both Singapore and Hong Kong have also experienced similar spikes of 29 and 72 percent respectively in the lead up to the New Year. Interestingly, the average booking value in China has decreased by 17 percent from the US$485 in 2017 to US$402, suggesting a rise in tech-savvy consumers who are shopping around for the best travel deals and lower cost flights, coupled with greater overall competition within the airlines industry.

Commenting on the data, Philip Shi, Country Manager for China at Worldpay said: “The weeks preceding the Chinese New Year is an increasingly significant period for the travel and tourism industry in China with more and more consumers looking to get away and celebrate with family and friends. To some extent, this is reflected by the number of new airports being built in China to cope with the surge in air travel.”²

“With increased competition within the industry, it is now even more important for airlines and travel operators to prepare for this travel spike in advance. Mobile payments are used by 68 percent of the online population for purchases ranging from personal shopping to travel booking.³ It is imperative for airlines and travel operators to ensure their check-out pages are optimized for mobile, and that customers are given the option to book in the most convenient way possible.”

About the data
Figures quoted are according to Worldpay’s Global Enterprise eCommerce transaction data for airlines and online travel agents and operators from China from January 2016 to February 2018.

About Worldpay
Worldpay, Inc. (NYSE: WP; LSE: WPY) is a leading payments technology company with unique capability to power global Omni-commerce. With an integrated technology platform, Worldpay offers a comprehensive suite of products and services, delivered globally through a single provider. Worldpay processes over 40 billion transactions annually, supporting more than 300 payment types across 146 countries and 126 currencies. The company is focused on expanding into high-growth markets and customer segments, including global eCommerce, integrated payments and B2B. Visit us at www.worldpay.com.

For more information, please contact:
Siobhan Derrington : Siobhan.Derrington@worldpay.com – +44 (0) 203 664 4822
Annie Wang : awang@golin.com – +852 2501 7918

¹ Analysis of Worldpay’s Global Enterprise eCommerce transaction data for airlines and online travel agents in China, Hong Kong and Singapore during January 18 to February 07, 2016; January 01-28, 2017 and January 14 to February 03, 2018
² https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/these-five-charts-show-how-rapidly-china-s-aviation-industry-is-expanding/
³ http://www.china.org.cn/china/2018-02/02/content_50387094.htm