Preferred Hotels & Resorts on Tuesday announced it has entered into a global partnership with UnionPay International – China’s most widely used and influential bank card payment network – as part of its continuous campaign to court the booming Chinese outbound market.
Effective through 2019, the agreement has a variety of components, including advertising campaigns and special cardholder promotions.
Preferred Hotels & Resorts spent six months coordinating efforts to ensure its member hotels were equipped to accept the market’s preferred method of payment. As part of the agreement, UnionPay International will provide Preferred Hotels & Resorts with valuable exposure through promotional campaigns such as banner advertising on UnionPayIntl.com and statement inserts at affiliate banks across China, which will rotate on a quarterly basis.
To kick off the partnership, Preferred Hotels & Resorts has launched its participation in UnionPay International’s ongoing “Enjoy the World Your Way” consumer promotion, extending cardholders a special discount of up to 15% on the best available rate at 125 participating properties through the end of 2016.
The engagement with UnionPay International is the latest development in a series of initiatives that Preferred Hotels & Resorts has launched to showcase its steadfast commitment to both grow its presence in China and court the market’s lucrative outbound travel business. Among other brand efforts introduced in the past two years are a brand website in simplified Chinese (www.preferredhotels.cn), dynamic social media campaigns on Sina Weibo and WeChat, a partnership with Air China, and booking connectivity with key OTAs and China’s Global Distribution Service.
So far in 2016, the company has also hired new associates based across Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Guangzhou to handle public relations, social media, travel trade relations, and sales responsibilities, and signed three new member hotels in China – Longemont Shanghai, Longemont Hotel Chengdu, and Wanda Reign Chengdu Hotel.