Featured stories from TravelWeekly: South Korea’s MERS free, focus on Chinese outbound market in Hotels.com’s travel monitor, boom time for China’s cruise line sector
South Korea declares MERS is no more
South Korea will launch a massive marketing campaign to woo tourists after an end to a deadly outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that killed 36 people and infected 186 in total.
Speaking in Seoul, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said the danger posed by what was the biggest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia was over. “People can now be free from worry,” Hwang said.
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Chinese travellers want the lot, even the kettle
The rise of millennial and luxury travellers is fuelling substantial growth in Chinese outbound travellers and soaring rates of smartphone bookings.
The latest Hotels.com Chinese International Travel Monitor (CITM) highlights how the sheer size and spending power of Chinese outbound travellers is shaping the global tourism industry and influencing hoteliers.
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China’s cruise boom set for next wave
China’s cruise line sector is predicted to contribute 51 billion yuan (US$8.2bn) to the Chinese economy by 2020, according to a report by major online travel agency Tongcheng Network Technology Co Ltd, based in Suzhou.
In the first half of this year, the industry reported a five percent growth rate compared to the same period in 2014, with passenger figures topping 380,000.
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