Six major hotel and attraction brands each exceeded RMB 100 million in promotional sales during Fliggy’s 11.11 shopping campaign. Marriott International, Hilton, IHG and Hyatt crossed the threshold alongside Shanghai Disney Resort and Universal Beijing Resort. The Alibaba-owned travel platform reported that more brands reached that level than in the previous year.
The campaign gave Chinese travellers a way to buy hotel stays, attraction tickets and tours ahead of their trips. Buy-now, book-later packages let customers purchase an offer during the sale and choose travel dates later under the package terms. For hotels and tour operators, that creates an opportunity to sell future stays and experiences before customers have settled their itineraries.
Hotel Packages Lead Growth Among 88VIP Members
Hotel packages were a standout category for members of Alibaba’s 88VIP programme. Their purchases of promotional travel products rose nearly 70% year on year, while hotel package purchases increased by more than 120%. The figures count purchases during the promotion. For hotels, the next measure is how many buyers reserve dates and complete their stays.
Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Jin Jiang also used the campaign to offer faster routes to loyalty status. Participation in those promotions rose by more than 200%, and more than 100,000 customers joined Marriott’s offer. Eligible customers who bought a Platinum package and completed a qualifying stay could receive 120 days of Platinum benefits.
The offer gave travellers a reason to consider how a purchase might fit several trips. Someone planning repeat stays could weigh the period of loyalty benefits alongside the package price. For hotel groups, the promotion provided a chance to turn a sale for one stay into a relationship that extends beyond the shopping event.
Livestreams Help Sell More Complex Trips
The value of promotional products sold through Fliggy’s official livestream channels rose by more than 30% from the previous year. The number of individual livestream offers exceeding RMB 1 million in sales grew by more than 40%. Fliggy backed the channel with additional marketing resources during the campaign.
A livestream gives operators room to explain what a package includes. That can matter for cruises, guided tours or specialist trips, where transport, activities and the timing of departures may affect the decision to buy. The campaign’s range included Antarctic emperor penguin expeditions, visits to New Zealand’s That Wānaka Tree and desert stargazing experiences.
Fliggy also reported record participation by merchants and a record number of promotional products. The number of merchants whose sales value at least doubled rose by nearly 200. Offers generating between RMB 1 million and RMB 5 million in sales increased by 60%, pointing to gains across a wider range of products.
Domestic Breaks and Outbound Holidays Both Draw Buyers
Shanghai, Sanya, Beijing, Hangzhou and Zhongwei were among the mainland destinations drawing interest. Fliggy identified Anshun, Quanzhou, Qinhuangdao, Rizhao and Zhangzhou as domestic growth leaders during the campaign. For tourism businesses in those cities, a promotion can put local stays and attractions in front of buyers who are still deciding where to travel.
New Zealand, South Korea, the Maldives, Hong Kong and Malaysia ranked among the most popular destinations outside mainland China. Türkiye, Spain, Australia, Malaysia and the United Kingdom posted strong growth. Malaysia appeared in both groups, combining a high level of interest with growth from the previous campaign.
Buyers from Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Beijing were prominent in advance travel purchases. Those markets give participating operators a view of where campaign customers came from and where they might focus future hotel, attraction or tour offers.
Advance Sales Put the Focus on Travel Dates
Promotional sales value nearly doubled across domestic attraction tickets, chauffeured tours, cruises and outbound group tours. That mix shows how customers can use the same sale to purchase anything from a single day out to a trip that requires several services to line up.
Fliggy reports campaign sales as gross merchandise value, the value of products sold during the promotion. With buy-now, book-later offers, the purchase and the trip happen at different times. A buyer may still need to check room availability, select a sailing or confirm that a tour departs on the dates they want.
For participating businesses, the weeks after the campaign will show when customers want to travel and which offers convert into stays and departures. For travellers, the value of an advance purchase ultimately depends on finding dates that fit the trip they intend to take.
For more travel news like this, keep reading Global Travel Wire
