Consortium formed for China

Five South-east Asian tour operators are forming a consortium to target the Chinese outbound leisure and MICE markets.

To be launched in the second half of July in Shanghai, the grouping will be called either the Asia Travel Consortium or South-east Asia Travel consortium, said Khirul Zainie, MegaBorneo Tour Planner?s managing director.

Aside from MegaBorneo, the consortium will comprise operators from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. By next month, operators from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos will join the group. Khirul said: ?We can?t reveal the members? names yet to avoid speculations from our competitors. We are rather skeptical about Myanmar because of its political instability.?

The group would  share resources to attract the Chinese market but would continue to compete in other segments.

?All the members are small and mid-sized owner-operated companies. Individually, we don?t have the strength to tap China?s outbound market but, if we leverage our strengths, we can rub shoulders with the big boys... China is a challenging market as lots of players in South-east Asia have spoiled the market with below-cost tours,? said Khirul.

The consortium will open a sales officce in Shanghai to service mainland Chinese travel agents and incentive houses. A common portal with a payment gateway for B2B transactions is also being developed. Members would share the costs of maintaining the office and B2B portal, marketing, training and manpower development.